Secret Heroes
by branson101
Summary: War is never easy. You never really know what you are capable of until forced to face adversity. Rating for future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own the copyright to Harry and his world, JK Rowling does.

"Into That Good Night"

It had been a long time coming. Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood at the threshold of their lives. They swore they would stand by his side years ago, and nothing was going to stop them now.

Their mission was their destiny. Some greater power had brought them together. Through all of their individual faults, they were strongest together. They had a connection; they had the ultimate bond of friendship.

Harry stood at the window of his dormitory looking out at the grounds. Oh, how he loved Hogwarts. It was the first place he could ever really call home. He reflected on the events of the past year.

First there was Ginny, beautiful Ginny. He loved her, but he had to protect her. He knew that there was a chance, a huge chance, that he would not survive the war. What if the war took years? She had to be able to move on. He couldn't expect her to sit and wait for him for 5, 10, even 20 years.

Then there was Dumbledore. His death hurt Harry as much as Sirius' did. It had hit the magical world extremely hard. And then there was the mission that Dumbledore had assigned Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Even Harry admitted that Dumbledore wanted Ron and Hermione to know about what the "private lessons" were about because he intended all three of them to hunt Horcruxes together.

That is why Harry was up tonight, at two in the morning. Behind him he heard Ron close the curtains around his bed. "Time to go, Harry." Harry turned around and looked at Ron standing behind him and Hermione sitting on Harry's trunk. Harry nodded and followed his friends out of the dorm, careful not to look back.

When they reach the common room they found that they were no longer alone. Neville, Ginny, and Luna were sitting by the fire waiting for them to arrive. Neville was the first to speak, "I see that you are going out after hours again, only this time it looks like you're not coming back."

"Neville, listen—"started Ron.

"No, Ron, you listen," interrupted Ginny, "I knew you three were up to something. Every morning this summer I kept expecting you three to disappear. Every time I'd hear Hermione breathe from bed I was completely relieved that you were still there. You're leaving _Now_? How could you leave and not say goodbye?" Ginny looked straight at Harry at this last comment.

"Harry, I think you should know that we have decided that you are not going anywhere without us. You could try to curse us, but we would have to fight back and that would draw a lot of attention." Luna stated this to the trio with immense calm and serenity.

"Ok," said Ron, "I really think they mean it." Harry and Hermione nodded at Ron and he continued. "You three need to realize that this is not a game. This is life and death. In fact this will end in death, just hopefully not one of us."

"This isn't even going to be like the ministry adventure" Hermione continued. "This is going to hard, dangerous, frustrating, and well war."

"We understand that, Hermione, but we all have a stake in this. We deserve the right to help." Neville was right; he deserved this opportunity as much as Harry did.

Harry stepped into the middle of the group. "Alright, everyone goes, but please be quiet or we'll wake everyone up. Hermione where is that letter?" He thanked her as she handed him a piece of parchment. "We are going to have to add that these three came with us. So that no one freaks out. Well, at least Molly will know that she went us and wasn't kidnapped by Deatheaters. Ron, do the auror's have a witness protection program?"

"A what?"

"A program where the auror's will hide us, give us new identities, and keep your Mum from killing us."

"Once she finds out that no only did we run away from school, but let Ginny come along while underage, there is no place that we can hide."

The six friends laughed at Ron's comments knowing that he spoke the truth. After they had summoned Dobby and given him the letter with the instructions to give it to Professor McGonagal, they left the common room. Harry, by use of his map, led them to the secret passage way.

Once out of the passage and in Hogsmeade, the six turned for one last look at Hogwarts. Then three by three they went on their way into that good night.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Sorry that this took so long. I had an accounting exam with a professor that makes Snape look like Barney. He literally fails 70 of the class every semester. Finals are in one month so the next chapter could take awhile. As always I do not own Harry Potter.

And the morning comes.

The six friends walked through the woods throughout the night. As the sun rose over the hills they came to a clearing in the woods. They decided that this would be a good place to stop and rest. Here they had a small cave to sleep in and a creek close by for water.

They quickly divided up the chores that must be done before anyone could rest. Harry and Luna went for water, Hermione and Ginny went to find firewood, and Ron and Neville checked the cave and carried everyone's gear inside.

Harry had told them early on that they were going to be walking and living as muggles as much as possible. Avoiding using magic meant avoiding being tracked.

An hour later they sat eating their breakfast in the cave. Hermione and Ron who had been sitting whispering to each other finally stood up and moved over to where Harry was sitting alone.

"Harry, we were thinking. Uh, I think that we are going to have to tell them the truth." Ron started.

"The whole truth, Harry. Everything that Dumbledore told you last year including what we are really doing." Hermione went on.

"Yeah, I was thinking that too. Let them finish their breakfasts and then we will tell them.

"Hey guys," spoke up Ginny. "Shouldn't we have someone posted at the entrance to the cave? As a lookout?"

"Oh man, why didn't we think about that?" And with that Ron volunteered to take the first watch.

After everyone had finished breakfast Harry and Hermione sat closer to the Ginny, Luna, and Neville. Harry went through the whole story from Tom Riddle's past to his seven horcuxes. Hermione and Ron assisted the story whenever they had something to add. Especially when it came to the prophecy, the truth about scabbers, and all their escapades over the years at Hogwart's that prevented Voldemort's return for a few extra years.

The six teenagers sat in silence for a few minutes. Neville was the first to speak up. "You mean, my parents are in St. Mungo's because of a prophecy that Trelawney made?"

"Yes, Neville."

"I can't believe this."

"Harry, do you know what the horcruxes are?" At this Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other. He knew that this was not going to be easy for Ginny to hear.

"Yes, Ginny, we do," spoke up Ron. "They are Slytherin's locket, Hufflepuff's cup, a ring, something that belonged to Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, his snake, and his diary. The ring and the diary have already been destroyed.

Ginny looked green and felt a little sick. "Oh my God. I gave him the chance to come back then didn't I?"

"Ginny, he didn't though." Luna said as she put an arm around her friend.

"Only because Harry and Ron stopped him."

"Ginny, he is very powerful, he tricked people into to trusting him. He could charm just about anyone. The only person that I know of that ever saw through Tom Riddle was Dumbledore.

"Really?"

"Really, Ginny, now I suggest that we all get some sleep. But first we should set a guard schedule. Ron, you and Luna go first. Neville and I will go second and Hermione and Ginny last. And with that they all settled down and went to sleep. As Harry laid there with a full stomach he wondered how why he had let his five friends join him. He was certain that he was being selfish and leading them to their death. But still, he knew that there was no going on without them.

Meanwhile, back at Hogwarts, Headmistress McGonagall sat at her desk. Dobby had given her a letter at breakfast stating that six of her students had run away in the night.

Before telling the parents of the runaways, she had called the teacher's into a meeting. They had decided that for the safety of the six kids on the run. They would tell any student that asked that they had been pulled out of school by their parents.

It had been difficult to tell Molly. They had written each other frequently over the years, especially during Fred and George's years at Hogwarts. Molly had cried hard when Minerva showed her the letter. Mr. Lovegood took the news a little better, but Mrs. Longbottom was all but thrilled that her grandson was stepping up.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey all

Hey all! Sorry this took so long. My finals drained me completely. But I passed with flying colors. The next update should be soon. I have already started on chapter 4. As always, I do not own Potter, Jo does.

Chapter 3

A Place to rest

Over the next few weeks Ginny was quiet and kept to herself. She knew that she had been possessed by Lord Voldemort but never knew the true extent of had happened in the Chamber of Secrets. That she, Ginny Weasley, had almost helped Lord Voldemort to return. It made her feel sick and ashamed that she had been taken so completely.

One morning the six friends found themselves camping by a creek. They were tired and hungry. Ginny and Hermione took the first watch. As soon as everyone else had fallen sleep, Ginny got up and walked over to the creek and sat down. Hermione knew exactly what was upsetting her friend. She had watched Harry brood over his issues with Voldemort for years. She stood up and walked over to Ginny and sat down. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Hermione spoke. "Ginny, you didn't know. You couldn't have."

"I know, I just keep thinking what if Harry hadn't found me and destroyed that diary?"

"Yes, and what if you had shown one of your brothers the diary, or your father. What if it had fallen into someone else's hands?

"Exactly"

"Gin, you cannot dwell on what ifs."

"That's easier said than done."

There are too many and you will just drive yourself crazy. Just be glad for what was.

"I know your right Hermione. I'm just feeling guilty. It'll pass. We are going to end this, aren't we?"

"Yes we are, I am going to get that heartless bastard out of my life once and for all." A new deeper voice startled the girls. They looked up and saw Harry standing there. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you guys."

"That's ok-", Hermione started but was interrupted by Ginny laughing.

"Some guards we are. We got stalked by the chosen one." At this Hermione started laughing. Harry was trying not to laugh. He hated being known by that title, but it was a little funny.

"So what are you doing up, Harry," Hermione asked. She was always afraid that his nightmare visions into Voldemort's mind were going to return.

"Just couldn't sleep. I'm too hungry."

"Harry, we are only about three days from London and well, I was thinking that can't we stop at number 12. Get a good night sleep and fill our stomachs?" Hermione asked Harry.

"And a hot bath?" added Ginny.

"Yeah, Ron and I were discussing that earlier, we were actually going to bring it up after everyone had rested a bit. Yeah, we will. It will give us a goal to work towards. When we get there we can discuss where to go from there."

"Yes!!" both girls cheered at the same time.

"I am up now, do either of you want to go to sleep?"

"No, I can't sleep right now," replied Hermione.

"Ok then, I will. I am suddenly feeling calm enough to fall asleep, thanks Hermione.

"Anytime Gin."

Harry and Hermione watched Ginny walk back to the rest of the group and lay down to fall asleep.

"Was Gin feeling responsible for the whole chamber of secrets thing?

"Yeah, I don't know what I am going to do with you guys. You too and Ron, you're all brooders."

"You should have run screaming into the night years ago."

"If I had, think of all the fun I'd have missed."

"Yeah, dragons, evil dark lords, and more dragons."

Hermione laughed for a moment then looked at Harry. "Is Grimmauld place the only thing that you and Ron talked about?"

"If you mean what happened this summer, yeah, he told me."

"Oh."

"Should he not have told me?"

"No, it's not that, it's just, I thought that I was in love with him."

"He said the same about you. Heck, I thought you two were destined to get married."

"I guess not. I guess we are just destined to be best friends. Maybe Luna is his true love?"

"They have been spending a lot of time together." Harry took Hermione's hands in his and said "You will find your soul mate Mione, I promise you that."

"Really, you promise?"

"I do."

They spent the rest of their guard duty discussing the first thing they wanted to do when the war was over, future careers and the future in general. By the time that Ron and Luna came over to take over guard duty. Harry was finally able to get some sleep


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry about the delay

Sorry about the delay. I post this story on as well, and they keep rejecting chapter 3 for too many spaces between paragraphs. I have submitted that chapter 3 times now. But I wanted to get this one done. This went in a different direction than I had intended it to. When I right, I have an idea of where I want the chapter to go, then I write it out. Then I change it when I type it up. So, I apologize now if you think it can be scattered, I try to catch it. I also have issues where I think it in my head and think that I am conveying it in writing but I don't. Sorry about that. By the way, the vague scene at the end is intentional. All will be explained. But I had to start getting Draco and Narcissa in. Oh and if I really owned Harry would I be torturing my self by taking a summer course on interviewing. PS, that is another reason that this chapter was delayed. Please review. I may be too busy to respond personally but I will try add something at the beginning of the next chapter.

Chapter 4

Hideouts

The sextet finally found themselves in front of Number 12 Grimmauld Place. With a collective sigh of relief they entered the dark house and made their way to the living room, where Harry and Ginny started a fire in the fireplace.

Ron and Neville volunteered to go out and pick up some groceries. When they got back with enough food to last a couple of days, the six friends sat at the table in the dining room, and even though exhaustion was setting in, they were starving, and tonight, no one was going to go to bed hungry. After everyone had been fed, Hermione suggested that since they were going to stay for at least a few days, they should divide up chores. Once done, Hermione and Ron, who both volunteered to do the dishes, went to the kitchen, and the other four headed off to bed.

The next morning after breakfast Harry and Ron, with the help of the invisibility cloak, went off to find a copy of the daily prophet. Since they were in London, they decided to head for Diagon Alley first. When they reached the Leaky Cauldron, Harry and Ron slipped into the bar behind an old wizard. They moved closer to the bar when they saw Tom, the old barkeeper, come out from a back room and greet the old wizard.

"Dooley! It's been months, what brings you in today?"

"I am meeting an auror here today. She wants to talk about Madame Bones. Knows that I worked for her for years, it's so sad," Replied Dooley McMaster.

"I know I cannot believe the deatheaters got her and Doris Crockford too."

"I here tell it was that Malfoy woman and her horrible son that did it."

"So who is the auror that your meeting?" Just as he finished asking the question the door open and in came a pretty young witch with pink hair and a heart shaped face. Ron and Harry held their breath for fear that she would discover that they were there. The woman took off her cloak and joined the two men at the bar. Tonks and Dooley ordered their drinks and took a table in the corner. Harry and Ron moved closer to their table to listen in. After about a half an hour, Tonks stood up, shook Dooley's hand, and turned to leave. As she passed the spot where Harry and Ron stood she stooped to tie her shoe, and whispered to them, "Can we talk somewhere?"

Ron whispered back, "Meet us at Harry's house." Deciding that they could chance apparating, Harry and Ron returned home to tell everyone what they had overheard and that Tonks was coming to visit.

Harry and Ron were barely back ten minutes when Tonks came through the door.

"Wotcher guys, I hope you don't mind I just let myself, I didn't want to risk waking my lovely aunt." Harry, Ron, and Ginny cringed remembering all times that they had had to endure Mrs. Black's portraits foul tirades. Since there was no way to remove the portrait Harry had confronted the portrait, telling her that he now owned the house and if she didn't shut up and stay quiet he was going to have an artist come in an touch up her picture, specifically that he would have her mouth removed. Tonks laughed when they recounted this to her, stating how much Sirius would have loved hearing that.

The sextet told Tonks about hiking from Scotland to London, and that they were on a temporary break to figure out what their next step was going to be.

"What is your next step? What are you guys up to?" she inquired.

"We can't tell you," replied Harry, "Dumbledore was very clear about this, and I have already stretched it by tell Neville, Ginny, and Luna. I'm sorry, but I cannot tell anyone else."

"That's ok. I didn't really expect you to, but you can blame a girl for trying."

"Well, there is something that you can tell _us,_ how is our family?" Ron asked.

"Everyone is just fine. So are the Longbottoms and you father, Luna. But I must say, it took awhile to calm Molly down. She was ready to start a search party for you guys. We finally convinced her that it was pointless as we didn't know where you were headed and if any word came through the auror office about you guys, I would pass it along."

"So, how are you and Remus?," asked Hermione.

"Oh my God, I cannot believe I didn't tell you—I'm pregnant!!"

After a round of congratulations, the seven friends sat down and talked for a few more hours about things that had been going on in the wizarding world while the sextet had been missing. Finally, Tonks excused herself saying that she was meeting Remus before going to have dinner with Molly and Arthur.

Once she was gone Ginny and Luna went to the kitchen to start dinner while the rest of the group sat at the table and discussed everything that Tonks had conveyed to them, especially the deaths. It turns out that Madame Bones and Doris Crockford were not the only people that had been killed by the deatheaters. Among the most notable of the names were Mr. Olivander and Cornelius Fudge.

After dinner the group went to explore the house. They had gotten in so late the night before they all crashed in the living room. Today they were going to scout out the house and claim bedrooms. They started on the top floor where the first room was Sirius' Harry claimed that room. Neville took the room next to Harry's and Hermione took the room directly across from there and Ron took the room next to her.

Then they went down to the next floor and stepped up to the door next to the room that Hermione had chosen and found it locked. "Alohomora!" said Neville and the door flew open. The sextet walked in and looked around. It reminded Harry and Ron of the time that the visited the Slytherin common room in their second year. They started looking through the room and stopped only when Hermione screamed holding up a piece of stationary. The other five crowded around her and read the initials on the top of the paper, RAB. Comprehension dawning on everyone they ransacked the room for over an hour searching for the locket to avail. Both Ginny and Luna took rooms on the other side of the hall as neither could stand to stay in what Ginny called a "Shrine to Slytherin."

They decided that they should try to get some sleep and search the entire house after breakfast the next morning. They went to bed disappointed that even though they had discovered who RAB was they still had no idea where the locket was. But still, they were one step closer than before.

Meanwhile, in a little cabin in the woods.

"You guys are well aware of the job that the Dark Lord gave us, has anyone managed to track her down." Narcissa and Draco Malfoy sat around a table filled with deatheaters.

"We saw her in London, around the Black family home."

"Good, who was with her?"

"Harry Potter was with her, along with the Granger girl, Longbottom, Lovegood, and the other Weasley."

"Good, let's keep an eye on them. I want all six of them tracked. They do not get out of your sight. I do not need to remind you the dangers we face if we fail and the Dark Lord finds out what we've done." And with that Narcissa and Draco stood up and left the cabin.  
"Is Aunt Bella still on you?"

"Yes. But I keep reminding her of her failure to protect Lucius, as family she should have stayed and fought to free him not save her skin."

But that is pure Aunt Bella, she will always think of only herself. With that they apparated home.


	5. Chapter 5

This is really short and not the chapter I intended to right

This is really short and not the chapter I intended to right. I have an issue that I just can't figure out and with school and packing for a trip I have not had the time to sit and contemplate. But I wanted to get something out before I leave town tomorrow. I will try to null out this problem while I am sitting at the pool.

OH! As always I don't own Harry, the Devine Ms. J does.

Chapter 5

Revelations

The next morning the sextet woke up early. They were excited at the prospect of finding the locket and being able to destroy it. They decided that would start on the top floor and search one room at a time until they found it.

But room after room, and floor after floor there was no sign of the locket. Anticipation turned to disappointment as the day wore on. By the time that they finished searching the house the sun was setting. As the group separated to do their daily chores the disappointment and exhaustion was evident on their faces.

Dinner was a subdued affair that night. No one ate much. Not even Ron. After dinner Harry and Hermione went to the kitchen to do the dishes and the rest of the disbursed to take baths and get to bed early.

After the dishes were done and the dining room cleaned, Harry and Hermione sat down for a cup of tea. They sat next to each other at the dinner table close to the fire. They sat talking about the day and wondering where the locket had gone to and how they were going to find it.

As they sat, sipping their tea, neither realized just how close they were sitting, or the fact that Hermione was now resting her head on his shoulder, or that they were now holding hands. In fact they were so intent on their conversation that neither of them saw Ginny walk into the room.

"Well, hello you two, don't you guys look cozy." Ginny said, startling Harry and Hermione.

"Ginny, I thought you went to bed," replied Hermione.

"Obviously", Ginny retorted, "I couldn't get to sleep so I came to get a cup of tea."

"I'll get it for you," said Harry getting up.

"Thank you."

After Harry left the dinning room and went to the kitchen. Hermione spoke up again.

"Ginny, really nothing-"

"Forget it Hermione, he's a free agent, I have no say in who he spends his time with. He made that plainly clear."

Harry returned a moment later with Ginny tea.

"I think that I will drink this upstairs." As she reached the door to the dinning room she turned back and said, "Oh, by the way, I was thinking. Maybe we should summon Kreatcher to see if he knows what happened to the locket." With a smile she turned a retreated to her room.

Ginny was half way to her room when she decided to pay her brother a visit. She knocked lightly on his door and waited for permission before entering.

"Ron," she started as she crossed the room to sit on his bed with him. "What is going on with you and Hermione? I mean, you two got really close this summer, then nothing."

"Well, we were. I even asked her to be my date for Bill's wedding."

"What happened?"

"We kissed."

"And??"  
"And nothing. I mean nothing. Really, there we were at the wedding. Me in my dress robes and she was wearing that beautiful gown. We disappeared by ourselves and sat under the stars. And I kissed her and it was like kissing Auntie Muriel."

"I'm sorry."

"So was I at first. But you know, Luna and I are getting along better than ever. And so are Harry and Hermione."

"I know. I just walked in on them having a cozy cup of tea."

"Gin, I'm sorry. I know he wouldn't intentionally hurt you. It's not in his nature."

"I know. I just have to get used to the fact that I've lost him. Perhaps, I never really had him."

"That you would need to speak to him about."

And with that, Ginny did return to her room and climbed into bed. The next morning they would have to figure out their next move. She knew that they could not hide in that house forever.


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry that it took so long to update

Sorry that it took so long to update. Towards the end of July I started getting sick and passing out. Once was very unfortunate and fortunate timing. Unfortunate because I was carrying a 55 lb chair back to the minivan and happened to be on the cement steps outside my house (luckily my neighbors were having a party so about 30 people saw me tumble down the stairs and came running) it was also fortunate because right before I went to take the chair out, I was on my roof fixing the tarp that covering a hole caused by storm damage. I shudder to think what would have happened if I had passed out on the roof. Anyways, I know what was wrong and I am feeling great now. Better than I have in a long time, I just didn't realize how sick I was until I started treatment. Anyways, I have written preliminary outlines for two more chapters after this one (which I wrote in a very boring managerial accounting class) As always, I do not own Harry and crew, Jo does.

Chapter 6

How many houses?

The next morning breakfast was a silent affair after the disappointment of the day before. Harry and Hermione sat apart from each other. Ginny knew that they were attempting to be respectful and spare her feelings after what she had walked in on the night before. It was actually doing nothing more than irritating her. After all, she was not a child nor was she going to die of heartbreak because "the chosen one" had chosen someone else. Like hell was she going to spend her life pining for someone who was in love with someone else. She decided that maybe it was time to have another chat with Mr. Potter about their breakup. There were a few things that she needed to get clear with him. After they finished eating, Harry brought up Ginny's suggestion of calling Kreatcher. After a short discussion, it was unanimously decided to call the elf. As soon as everyone was done with their morning chores they were to meet in the sitting room upstairs.

An hour later Luna and Ron were the last two to reach the sitting room, Harry had sneaking suspicion of what made them late. It didn't take that long to make beds.

"Hey Harry," started Ron as he took his seat next to Harry, "given the bloody git's past, maybe we shouldn't just automatically trust him."

"Hermione and I thought of that, too. What do you suggest?"

After a brief discussion, the sextet stood in a circle with their wands pointed to a spot in the center when Harry called, "Kreatcher!" The elf immediately appeared with a loud pop into the center of the circle and quickly took in the wands pointed directly at him.

He fell to his knees trembling and crying. After what he had done he thought for sure that they were going to kill him for betraying his previous master, Sirius.

"Please don't kill me, master. _Please!"_ said the old elf as he begged for his life.

"Harry-"pleaded Hermione, already lowering her wand.

"Ok," said Harry thinking fast, "We have some questions for you, if you answer honestly and completely, I will spare your life. Ok?"

"Yes, master."

"ok, guys, lower your wands."

"Kreatcher, did Regulus Black ever own a gold locket?"

"Yes, master, two.

"Two?"

" One that was given to him by his favorite grandmother just before she died, and one that he asked me to protect until he returned home."

"Where is the one that you were ordered to protect?"

"I removed it from the Noble House of Black, when all the blood traitors and the mudblood ravaged the house."

"Kreatcher, I am warning you, you speak to Hermione with respect. If I ever hear you calling her that foul name again, I will curse you until you starting pleading for death. Now, apologize to her."

Kreatcher looked at his master with surprised look in his eyes, then turned to Hermione and said "I am sorry if I hurt you, Miss Hermione, I was not aware that my master cared so deeply for you."

"Thank you Kreatcher. I have a question for you, were you close to Master Regulus?"

"Yes, Miss Hermione. Master Regulus was always kind to house elves, not unlike you, Miss Hermione. He would always care for me when I was forced to punish myself."

"He never came back home did he? After asking you to protect that locket?"

"No, he was never seen again. There were always rumors that the dark lord had him killed. He must be dead if you were able to inherit the Noble house of Black"

"OK, so the locket that you were given to protect, do you know what Regulus wanted to do with it."  
"Yes Master, he wanted to destroy it but did not know how. Master Regulus trusted me and confided it me. He said that it was connected to the dark lord."

"Kreatcher, we know how to destroy the locket, will you tell us where it is, so we can destroy it for Regulus?"

"Yes, master, it is at the Noble House of Black."

"But, this is the House of Black." Said Ron

"Yes," replied Kreatcher, "But not the only one."

"How many are there?" asked Hermione

"There are three, Miss Hermione. This one, the house in the woods and the lake house."

"Who owns them Kreatcher?" Harry asked.

"Mistress Narcissa, Mistress Bellatrix, Mistress Andromeda, and now you, master. Equal shares."

"Do they ever go there?" asked Ginny.

"Mistress Andromeda goes to the lake house but dislikes the house in the woods, and Mistress Narcissa and Bellatrix like the house in the woods, but they dislike the lake house.

"At which house did you hide the locket?"

"At the lake house, Master Regulus would be ashamed at me if I let the locket fall back into the Dark Lord's hands."

Hermione leaned over and whispered something to Harry and nodded and reached into his pocket.

"Kreatcher, is this Master Regulus' prized locket from his grandmother?"

"Yes, master it is."

"Then I would like you to have it. I am sure that it would be what Regulus would have wanted. Also, I want you to go upstairs and move into Master Regulus' bedroom. That is an order. I do not want you sleeping in the cupboard anymore. I happen to believe in elf rights." He said with while winking at Hermione.

"Thank you, Master. I will do that. Then I will get started on dinner."

They waited until they were sure that Kreatcher was out of earshot.

"Mate, why did you insist that he move into a room upstairs?"

"I wanted him to be happy."

They decided that they were going to leave the next night. They wanted one more good night's sleep and a good dinner before they left. Plus Hermione wanted to work on a charm that would keep food cold. Like the muggle coolers that her parents use all the time.

While Hermione was off working on the charm in her bedroom, Ginny cornered Harry in the kitchen.

"Harry, I need to talk to you."

"Sure."

"I want you to know that I am blind and I am not stupid, I know what I walked in on last night."

"Ginny-"

"No, let me get this out. I am sorry that you and I are over. But if you love her, it's her that you should be with. I want a boyfriend who wants to be with me because he loves me, not because he is afraid to hurt me."

"Ginny, thanks for understanding. I do love her. But, like I said to you, I can't date anyone right now. It wouldn't be fair."

"Harry, live life. Don't put every thing on hold because of this war and because you might die. You might live you know. Just be happy, for once, be happy." At this she got up and started out of the room to have the same talk with Hermione.

"Ginny, " she stopped and turned around. "Just because it didn't work out for us doesn't mean I wasn't happy with you." She smiled and walked out of the door.

Meanwhile outside Grimmauld place three men stood quite invisible under their invisibility cloaks when the door opened and out came the Weasley boy and the Longbottom boy. They were laughing hysterically as they came down the steps and started down the street.

"Can you just picture, pasty Malfoy, sitting at the beach."

"I know. I wonder how big the lake house is." Mused Neville

"We will find out soon enough. Hermione thinks it should only take three weeks to walk there from here."

With this one of the men followed the boys, the second stayed to watch the rest of the group still in the house and the third went to report this news to Mrs. Malfoy.


	7. Chapter 7

As always I do not own Harry and Co, Jo does

As always I do not own Harry and Co, Jo does.

I had a comment about Ginny being mature. One of the issues that I have always had with the way that Ginny was introduced by Jo was as another girl in love with Harry because he is the "boy that lived." She has never been my favorite character, but she is not the only that is going to grow and mature in this story. This chapter is short, but I think it has to be. I am already starting the next chapter. So it won't take long for chapter 8 to come. The only problem is that I have this on two sites and one of them takes more than a week to validate stories and I want to keep both at the same place.

I would like to dedicate this chapter to Mariah…aka "Ralph"

God was gracious to end your pain. You are my Hedwig and I will miss you forever. May you and your mother and brother forever run in heaven's meadows chasing birds.

As darkness fell upon Grimmauld Place the following evening the six friends began collecting their bags in preparation of their departure. The stomachs were full and spirits high thanks to a lovely dinner with plenty of butterbeer; compliments of Kreatcher.

Hermione, who had been able figure out the charm on her bag, was in the kitchen filling it with food, with Ron's help of course. An hour later they were all standing in the entry hall ready to get on with the horcrux search, yet reluctant to leave their sanctuary. With a last goodbye to Kreatcher they walked out of the door and down the street.

Hermione was right when she estimated that it would take three weeks to walk to the lake house. As Kreatcher had explained to them there were enchantments placed on the house so the only a right owner or heir could see it unless an owner showed someone the house. Harry guided them all to where the house stood and said "see, it stands directly in front of us."

They were exhausted from walking for so long and they were hungry. Hermione's food bag a week ago and they had not had an opportunity to refill it. Harry had told them that getting the horcrux was their first priority then they would find a way to stock up on food again.

They approached the house cautiously, unsure what they were going to find, or what was going to find them. Fortunately, all they found was a quiet cabin with a lot of dust. It had apparently not been used in quite some time. Harry could not see the Malfoy's staying here and Bellatrix had been in Azkaban for so many years.

"I can't believe that you co-own something with Bellatrix Lestrange!" said Neville. "Part of me just wants to burn it to the ground."

"I know." replied Harry. "I know we are all tired, but I want that horcrux found and have a quick talk before we go to bed."

A few minutes later they were all sitting around the kitchen table with the locket lying in the middle. They were all just looking at it. It looked like an innocent necklace that would contain a lovers picture. But what this necklace contained was far more sinister.

"Ok. We have the locket but we still do not have a way to destroy it. But Mione is working on that."

"yes. I found these books in Regulus' room, before Kreatcher came. I am trying to sort through all of it and I have some ideas of what would work."

"Can we do that tomorrow, after we get some sleep?" Yawned Luna.

"Yes", said Harry. "We are going to stay here tonight. I think we'll be safe thanks to the enchantments, but I do not want to stay here too long. Tomorrow, a couple of us can go to a market that is nearby and get some food. But for tonight, I'm afraid that we are going to have go to bed hungry again."

"Tomorrow we need to start working out where we are going go from here. So please trying to think of some ideas."

Ron had already left the table and was rummaging through the cabinets. There wasn't much, but he was able to find some stale crackers and a can of beans. Shared six ways, there wasn't much for each, but it was better than nothing. Ginny volunteered her portion of the beans to Ron. She never was a fan of the dish. After they ate they all wandered off to find a place to sleep.

They had not been asleep for more than an hour when a bright red flashed soared across the room that Harry was sleeping in, waking him. As he sat up in bed he heard Luna scream and the thud that followed must have been her falling to the ground. Harry prayed that she was still alive and ran for the hall. There he found Ron trying to break down the door and Hermione, Ginny, and Neville were running down the hall. Hermione push Ron to the side and yelled "alohamora" and opened the door, but they found the room empty.

"OH MY GOD! They have her. She's outside with them." Ginny yelled, looking out of the window.

When the rest of the group got to the window they saw Luna lying on the ground at Draco and Narcissa Malfoy's feet.

"Come out Potter, and get your Loony friend." Yelled Draco. But he was not alone, there were three people with him and they could hear more people in the house.

"What are we going to do, Harry?' asked Hermione. They heard the deatheaters coming down the hall. They were trapped.

"We dissaparate back to # 12." Harry ordered them. But they couldn't do it. It was either being cornered by the deatheaters in the house or climb out of the window and face the ones out there.

Harry and Hermione stood on either side of the window to protect Ron as he climbed out first. Ginny and Neville kept their wands points at the bedroom door. Next Hermione climbed out, then Ginny, Neville, and Harry was last.

The two groups stood with their wands pointed at each other. Then Harry saw red jets of light coming not only from the deatheaters that had Luna, but the sides of the house. In a split second they were engaged in a full battle. Ron was the first to go down taken out by Narcissa. Harry turned to see Hermione fighting a tall female deatheater that he did not recognize, when he saw her get hit in the back by a jet of red light from Draco.  
"I always wanted to do that!" Draco yelled laughing.

Then Neville was taken down by a curse by yet another deatheater that Harry did not recognize. Then Harry's blood ran cold when he heard Draco yell out again. "I got her."

Harry turned to look over his left shoulder to see Draco with one arm around Ginny holding her and his wand pointed at her head with his other hand. In a flash there were two other deatheaters with their wands pointed at her. At that point Narcissa was walking past Harry to join her son when she stopped and turned to Harry.

"Don't worry about your little blood traitor girlfriend. The dark lord wants her brought to him alive. Perhaps he can 'convince' her to tell him what you are up to." And with that she walked over to her son, grabbed Ginny by the arm and then they were gone. They were all gone and Harry was left standing there alone in the dark looking at his friends lying upon the ground, unmoving.


	8. Chapter 8

As always, I don't own harry, Jo does

As always, I don't own harry, Jo does.

The End of Ginny Weasley

Ginny stood terrified with several deatheaters pointing their wands at her while she stood unarmed. Draco had disarmed her just before his mother had grabbed her and disapperated with her to this dark country road.

They walked quickly a short distance down the road before turning onto a small path and going through some gates. As the path turned Ginny suddenly noticed a beautiful mansion at the end of the path. This must be the Malfoy's place she thought. She was terrified at the thought that Voldemort could be waiting for her up there, waiting to kill. And there was no way out. She was surrounded by deatheaters and she was wandless.

As they reached the house, Narcissa order the deatheaters to remain outside and patrol to ensure that they had not been followed as Draco took Ginny inside the house and led her to a sitting room.

Once inside the room she ran and stood against the far wall. At least no one was going to sneak up on her from behind again.

"Ginny, calm down. I'm not going to hurt you." Draco told her as he shut the door behind him.

"Then give me my wand back and let me go!"

"I can't do that."

As they stood there the door opened.

"I have the elves preparing something to eat. Forgive me, my dear, but you do looked a little hungry." Narcissa said as she entered the room and took a seat in a big easy chair.

"Thanks, Mother. I am a little hungry myself." Draco mused as he took a seat on a sofa close to Narcissa.

Ginny however remained firmly planted against the wall. A few moments later Ginny heard people come down the stairs and walk towards the sitting room. The two people that entered the room we two people that Ginny had been told were not only dead, but dead at the hands of her captors.

"Mr. Fudge! Madame Bones! But…But…your dead! They killed you. Tonks told us so."  
"My dear", started Madame Bones as she and Fudge took seats on chairs near the Malfoy's. "That is what the world is supposed to think."

"Yes," chimed in Fudge. "You know who ordered them to kill us. But they faked our deaths instead and brought us here to hide."

"At their mortal peril, I might add." Chimed in Madame Bones.

"Yes, if You Know Who finds out that they are hiding the people he wants dead, he would slaughter them in a heartbeat."

"But why? I thought that you were deatheaters?"

"We were," Narcissa spoke up. "Until he let my husband sit in prison and ordered my son to murder Dumbledore. A job that he knew was a death sentence to my only child. I swore that I would find a way to help Harry Potter take down the dark lord. My husband and my son are my life and I won't let anyone get away with hurting them."

Three elves suddenly appeared at the door carrying trays of food at sat them on the coffee table in the center of the chairs the group was sitting in. Everyone grabbed plates and started eating except for Ginny who was still scared and needed a few questions answered before she could calm down.

"Are you two the only two they brought here?" asked Ginny now beginning to inch toward the chairs.

"No," said Madame Bones. "Mr. Olivander and Ms. Crockford are here too. I promise you, the Malfoy's are not going to hurt you. Please sit child. Eat."

Ginny slowly and cautiously made her way to the chairs and stood behind them.

"If you are not going to kill me, then what are you going to do with me?"

"The Dark Lord wants to use you to lure Potter to him to kill him." Narcissa told her.

"It won't work. We promised no rescue missions. We were to stick to our original mission."

"Wait a minute! You think that "The Great Harry Potter" is going to sit around and let his girlfriend be held captive and tortured by the Dark Lord?" exclaimed Draco." He'll be here in a heartbeat."

"First of all, I am not his girlfriend. Not anymore, we broke up. Second, did you not notice that none of us made a move to rescue Luna at any time when you attacked us."

"She's right Mother. They didn't." Draco said to his mother and then turned back to Ginny. "When did you two break up and why?"  
"At Dumbledore's funeral, to keep me safe from a plan like this."

"So, I guess that we go to plan B. Please dear, eat something. You look like you about to faint from hunger." Narcissa implored Ginny.

Ginny finally sat down and grabbed a piece of bacon and literally inhaled it. It tasted so good that she grabbed herself a plate and wolfed it down in seconds.

"My dear," and exclaimed Madame Bones. "When was the last time that you ate?"

It took Ginny a second to swallow the food in her mouth and when she looked up she noticed that everyone was staring at her.

"I had a few crackers last night. Before that for about a week, some nuts and berry we would find in the woods. Hermione charmed a bag to keep food cold. But there aren't too many places to buy food in the woods."

"There is a wizard grocery store near the house you guys were staying at last night. Do the others know that?"

"Yes, Kreatcher told us about it."

"I assume that Kreatcher was also the one that told you about the lake house?

"Yes and the house in woods. We weren't trespassing. Harry owns those houses with you."

"I know. When Sirius died he left his share to Harry Potter. Gringott's told me. Although, I must tell you it made my dear sister want to kill him more."

"Can we go back to the plan b that you mentioned? What is it?" Ginny Inquired.

"OH, yes we did get sidetracked. That is the plan where you volunteer to become a deatheater to spite the boy that broke your heart. Of course, what you will really just be helping us save people"

"But everyone will think that I _AM _a deatheater. My parents, my brothers and friends."

"And most importantly The Dark Lord. And you get to stay safe.

Ginny leaned back in her chair and thought about this. On one hand she could go along with Narcissa's plan and be hated by everyone she knew. At least until she could convince everyone that it was an act to stay alive, if she could convince people. Or she could refuse and almost certainly die at the hands of you know who.

"Ginny, why don't you go upstairs and take a hot bath, then lie down and think about this and maybe take a nap. The Dark Lord is due back for three more days and we were told not to summon him for any reason.

"Thank you, Draco, I think that I will take you up on that. I have quite the headache all of a sudden."

Draco looked relieved that Ginny had agreed so quickly and it showed that she was beginning to relax around them and just maybe she would trust them.

"Come on, Ginny, I'll show you to your room." Draco offered.

They stood up and walked out of the room together and started up the stairs. Ginny allowed herself to stop and take in the house and how beautiful it was. It really showed just as rich as she had always imagined the Malfoy's to be. Draco was half way up the main stairs when he stopped and watched her looking around.

"It's nice, but I always thought that it was too big for our small family."

"Yes, I would have to say you're right about that. This is a house for a big family full of laughing and playing kids."

"Like your family?"  
"I guess about that size."

Ginny jumped as Draco reached into the pocket of his robes. She almost ran until she noticed that he was pulling out her wand.

"Sorry about that, but I have been on the receiving end of your hexes before. I really did not care to repeat the experience. Now that your are calm, I feel safe letting you have this back." He handed her the wand. "and also I hope that you take that a reason to start trusting us."

"Thank you, Draco." Ginny said as she put the wand in her pocket.

"Here we are." Draco led her into a bed room that was four times larger than her bedroom at the burrow. He showed her the closets and her private bathroom before turning to leave.

"Draco," she called after him, "do you really think that your mother's plan will work?"

"Yes. I do. But now rest you headache. I will have a headache potion brought up to you. We can talk about that this afternoon."

"Thank you again, Draco. I have to say it does feel weird to be thanking the people who are holding me hostage."

"I'm sure it does. Good night or morning I guess."

Ginny looked out of the window and saw that the sun was beginning to rise.

"Draco, one more thing, my brother and the rest of my friends, are they alright?"

"Yes. We just stupefied them. If Potter kept his head and used innervate they should be awake and worrying about you by now."

Ginny turned to look back out the window wondering what her friends were doing and if they were even at the lake house or if the had left for someplace safer. Would they come after her? She found herself hoping that they wouldn't. She was safe for now and they need to continue the hunt. Suddenly through the reflection in the window she caught Draco watching her. But, as soon as she turned towards him again he left shutting the door behind him.

Ginny went into the bathroom and started the water in the tub and while the tub was filling she looked through the closets and dressers. Apparently, Narcissa had put some clothes in there for her. Probably the stuff she herself wore as a teenager. She grabbed a nightgown a robe and went to take her bath. And as she lie in the tub soaking she thought about how much her life had changed since running away from school. First she was hunt pieces of Voldemort's soul, now she had the choice of pretending to be a deatheater or dying.

The oddest part of this whole scenario, was that if she knew when she left school that night, what she knew now, she would have gone anyway. She knew that from here on her life was taking her on a new path. A path away from everyone and everything that she had ever known. This was the end of Ginny Weasley, sweet and innocent blood traitor; and the beginning of pretend deatheater Ginny Weasley, who would be just as tough and strong as it took to survive. She had made her decision to choose life over death. She just prayed that the plan would work.


	9. Chapter 9

As always, I do not own Harry and crew, I am just borrowing them. This is a short chapter I just wanted to get out. There was supposed to be another part but it works better as a separate chapter. That part needs some re-working which won't get done until after finals next month. I hope that you enjoy it. My theory is that if just one person likes your work then it was worth doing.

Chapter 9

Awakening

Harry stood there rooted to the spot watching in horror as Narcissa Malfoy disapperated with Ginny. He couldn't move. He couldn't think. She was gone and he had done nothing.

He looked around and saw Hermione lying motionless on the ground as short distance from where he was standing. He ran over to her and dropped to his knees. With one hand he held her hand and with the other he brushed her hair out of her face. After a moment he summoned the courage to move his hand to her wrist to check for a pulse, praying that she still had one. He just couldn't lose everyone in one moment. He quickly found her pulse and realized that she must have been stupefied and if she was alive that everyone else must be too.

He pointed his wand at her and said, "enervate". She immediately started waking up.

"Harry," she said as he helped her to sit up. "Is everyone else ok?"

"I think so, I haven't checked yet, but I think that they were just stunned like you."

"Not that I am complaining," Hermione said as she stood up, "But why are deatheaters stunning and not using the killing curse?"

"I don't know. I was wondering that myself. Let's go wake everyone else up."

Hermione made her way over to where she could see Ron lying on the ground while Harry walked over to Neville and then to Luna. As soon as Luna had stood up, Harry heard Hermione screaming that she couldn't find Ginny while Ron was running around searching for her.

"Harry, we can't find Ginny. Did you see where she went down?" Hermione yelled from across the yard.

"She's not here. They took her."

"What do you mean they took her?" asked Luna as Ron and Hermione came running over to where Harry was standing.

"Four of them were surrounding her with their wands pointed right at her. And then Narcissa walked past me and said don't worry Voldemort wants her alive and then she grabbed Ginny and disapperated. There was nothing that I could do, I swear. I'm sorry Ron." He had failed his friend. As much as Harry and Ron considered each a brother, this was Ron's baby sister, his family. And he had failed them both.

Ron fell to his knees and started sobbing into his hands. Harry and Neville looked at each other and then each took him by an arm and helped him up and into the house, sitting him at the kitchen table. He laid his head on his arms and continued to sob. Hermione leaned over to Harry and Neville and whispered them to make Ron a _strong _cup of tea. As they walked off, Hermione moved a chair over to where Luna was standing next to Ron then moved another chair to the other side of him and sat down. The two girls sat there quietly comforting Ron, Luna by stroking his hair and Hermione by stroking his back. After a few minutes Ron's sobs subsided and he mumbled into the table, "It's all my fault."

"No, its not." Luna whispered .

"Yes, it is. I never should have let her come. If they hurt her, It will be my fault."

Harry walked over to Ron and handed him the cup of tea.

"Ron, even if she hadn't come they would have taken her. She was what they came for. They would have grabbed her at school or at home. Somehow they would have taken her. And if it is anyone's fault its mine. Voldemort wanted her and wanted her alive; he must know that we were dating last year and wants to use her to lure me out. But Ron, you know as well as us that she is a smart and powerful witch who can hold her own."

"Yes that she is."

"Do you want to go find her? They probably have her at Malfoy Manor." Harry asked.

"No." Said Ron composing himself. "We can't risk anything happening to Harry. We go on and pray that Ginny is going to be fine, because if she's not none of us better go within a 100 mile radius of the burrow or Mum with brutally murder you."

They all smile at the fact that Ron was now calm enough to joke and they all started taking their seats.

"What do we do now?" asked Luna. "We are obviously not safe here."

"We spend the day here and leave tonight. The sun will be up in a couple of hour and then Hermione and I will run to that store that Kreatcher told us about. They rest of you should as least go lie down."

"Yeah," spoke up Ron, "I could use a lie down" and as he staggered down the hall towards his room.

Hermione turned to Harry and asked "Just how much firewhiskey did you add to his tea." Neville and Harry started laughing.

"I think the question you should be asking is how much tea did we add to the firewhiskey. Look he was upset he needed it.

"I'll go look after him." Luna said as she walked off down the hall.

"Are you mad?" asked Harry.

"No, you're right. He needed it to calm down. He's terrified and has every right to be. His sister is being held hostage by the Malfoys."

"I know."

"Hey guys, I think I will take Harry's suggestion and go lie down." And Neville walked off down the hall.

Noticing that they were all alone, Harry took Hermione's hand and led her to the sofa. While she got comfy under a blanket he rekindled a fire and then sat on the floor in front of her, reaching back to hold her hand again. And that is how they stayed until they both managed to doze off.


	10. Chapter 10

"Waking Up"

Ginny woke the next morning with a start. She had never woken

surrounded by such soft, luxurious sheets before. It only took a few

seconds for her to remember where she was and to recall the events of

the night before, included what they had ask her to consider. She

would do just about anything to do her part in taking down Voldemort.

That wasn't the question.

The question was; could she trust the Malfoy's, because trusting them meant trusting them with her life. And they would have to understand that she would not betray Harry, her brother, and the rest by telling anyone what they were up to. Could she trust them? Should she trust them? Would they accept her condition? She decided that she would have to trust them no matter what. She couldn't go back. She didn't know where the others were and if she trusted them and played along maybe, just maybe they would offer her some protection from Voldemort. She may be a smart, strong witch, but she was smart enough to know that she was no match for Voldemort.

She sat up when she heard a soft knock on the door. She told the

person at the door to enter and was shocked to see the house elf that

entered her room. She had remembered the stories that she had heard

about the abuse that Dobby had suffered the hands of the Malfoy's. Bit

this elf was clean, happy, and in a dress. When she asked the elf her

name she was informed that it was dinka.

"Dinka how is it that you are wearing a dress? Wouldn't that

make you free?"

"Yes miss," the elf responded "after the elder Malfoy went away, Mistress and Master Draco sat us all down. They wanted to free us but asked us to stay a d they would be paying us and treating us with

respect, Miss. Master Draco said that he had spoken to Dobby and

earned his forgiveness. So we elves took what we were offered. Many

elves would be upset at what we were offered, but most of us were born

on this house. It is our home. I am to inform you that lunch will be

served at noon, Miss." At that Ginny looked up at the clock and noticed that it was already a quarter til.

"Thank you Dinka, I will be there."

At that the elf said that she would inform the mistress and left the room so that Ginny could get dressed.

After quickly dressing she made her way downstairs trying not to get lost when she heard a piano playing softly from the sitting room. She entered the room quietly and gasped as she watched the blond haired

boy that sat playing, eyes closed, completely lost in the music that

he was playing. He smiled as she moved closer, as if he sensed that

she was there.

"I trust that you slept well, Ginny, I asked them to let you sleep. You looked so tired last night; I thought that you could use the rest. Forgive me if I was being too presumptuous."

"No, I was tired and that was the best night sleep that I have had

in a long time."

"I am glad. I want you to feel comfortable and safe here."

"You know," Ginny replied with a smile "I think that I do."

Draco smiled at the comment and his smile widened as her stomach

growled.

"Shall we head into lunch? If you have chosen to accept our offer

you will need your strength. We will have to start your training

this afternoon."

And with that they walked off to the dinning room for a big lunch and an even bigger conversation.

Authors Note:

I am sincerely sorry that it has taken me a year to get back. I can only say that I was ill and lost my muse. It took stepping away from Potter for twilight and getting involved with fanfiction there to get back in the grove and be able to write again. Unfortunately, classes start this week, but I plan to try to write during my son's chamber strings rehearsals on Monday nights. This was really short but I am going to work harder on making longer chapters. This one was originally longer the first three times I wrote it a year ago…but it delved into paranoia and got really stupid and I ended up trashing it. Some other parts that were supposed to be here will be in the next chapter. I wanted to really delve into lunch and the afternoon in depth so I want a full chapter to do that with.

As always I don't own anything, I am just having some fun.


	11. Chapter 11

Ginny and Draco walked off to the dining room together in silence. As they entered the room she noticed the people from last night quietly chatting with Narcissa at the far end of the table. Narcissa looked up as the two entered and smiled softly.

"Ah, Draco, Miss Weasly. You're here. Now we may start." At that

command the elves started serving the food. As everyone ate in silence

Ginny could feel the tension grow. She knew everyone was curious as

what her answer would be.

"I know that you want to know, but before I can agree I have a

condition that I must insist upon."

"What is that condition, Miss Weasley?" Narcissa asked.

"Ok, make that two conditions then. First, please call me Ginny, being called Miss Weasley makes me nervous" at that the whole room chuckled. "And two, under no circumstances can any ask me what Harry and the others are doing. I won't tell."

"That is fair, Ginny. I take it then you will help us."

"Yes, ma'am. I will."

The rest of their meal was spent in contemplative silence. After they were finished Draco and Ginny retired to the sitting room. It was going to be a long afternoon for the two teenagers. The first thing that Ginny had to learn was to shield her mind. Draco's aunt Bella had taught him occlumency a while back. She had believed that he would need the skill to keep his secrets from Severus Snape. Little that she knew that he would eventually use it mainly against her, the other death eaters, and most importantly against Voldemort. He and his mother and a few other choice few people had secrets that they needed to keep from Voldemort. Secrets that meant certain and instant death sentence if the secrets were ever discovered. And Draco knew that Ginny also held secrets that could cost her her life. He had to teach her how to guard her secrets. She knew Potter's plans and those plans could not be revealed to Voldemort. It would make everything that they were trying to do pointless.

Draco walked her to the library. He told her to make herself

comfortable on one of the easy chairs that he had arranged for them.

Then he began her first lesson in Occlumency.

"To begin you need to clear your mind and concentrate. This won't work

if you are not giving 100%. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Ok. First I will teach you the fundamentals. Then we will practice

for a bit. Later someone else is going to come in work with you." he

was apprehensive to tell her who was coming to help her. He was

positive that she wasn't going to take that well at all.

"Ok. Close your eyes. Good." he spoke softly. "Clear your mind of

all thoughts. Remember I am going to try to force myself into your

memories. And it is your job to stop me. To defend your mind from

intrusion. Ok. Are you ready?" Ginny nodded and Draco continued. "for

now I will verbalize my spell and I will warn you when it is coming.

But by the end of the day you need to get to point that you can fight

off a surprise attack. Ok. 1....2....3....leglimens" she fought as

hard as she could but lost quite fast.

"Don't laugh at me" she growled.

"I can't help it. For such a great quidditch player, you were a major

klutz as a kid!" he had just seen a hilarious montage of what appeared

to be Ginny Weasley's greatest slips, spills, and splats.

"Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Laugh it up. You think my brothers didn't tease the

shit out of me for it. Go on. I can take what ever you dish out."

"Oh my! Did little Ginny Weasley just swear! That's not very lady-like

you know." Draco teased her with a smirk and he was rewarded with a

blush from her.

"I suppose it isn't. But teasing a lady isn't very gentlemanly either,

sir."

"I never claimed to be a gentleman."

"And I never claimed to be a lady."

"Right. We'd better get back to work. Ready? Ok.

1...2...3...legilimens!"

This time she was able to hold on for longer before he invaded her

mind. This time she focused on memories that were embarrassing for her

brothers.

"It must have really nice growing up with such a big family that you

know loves you. Always knowing that there will be someone there when

you need them."

"Yes, it was. But on the other hand, I grew up with 6 brothers. Six

rambunctious, obnoxious, overbearing, over protective brothers"

"Tell me how you really feel about that"

"Yeah, I love them. It's because of them that I am as strong as I am."

"Strong. That is definitely what you are, miss Genevra. Shall we

continue?"

He pointed his wand at her again. This time she was able to block him

completely throwing at him some memories of him that she found

particularly funny, especially memories about a certain bouncing ferret.

"Hey now! Don't be a wicked little witch."

Ginny started laughing at this as soon Draco was joining in with her. They were soon interrupted by the sound of the door opening and

someone entering the room. Ginny look up and panic hit her eyes as she

recognized the person who entered."

"Ginny, please calm down. He won't hurt you. I promise."

Authors Note:

OK. This took longer than I thought it would. I actually got the inspiration for the part that I was stuck on during my federal taxation class. It is still shorter than I wanted, I was hoping to stretch it out a bit more, but that was a no-go. We will return to Harry's side, but right now I need to continue with Ginny for at least another chapter or so. Please excuse any errors of grammar, etc. I wrote it on my I-touch. As always, I don't own anything.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Secrets and Guilty Pleasures

"Ginny, please calm down. He won't hurt you. I promise."

"How can you say that Draco, he murdered Professor Dumbledore!"

"Please, just listen to us. Let us explain." Draco pleaded with her. Ginny shook her head no and started to back up to the wall terrified that she had made a huge mistake in trusting the Malfoys.

"Miss Weasley, do you remember the condition of Professor Dumbledore's hand?"  
"Yes, it was injured. It was all black."

"That was a deadly curse Miss Weasley. I managed to trap the curse into his hand and buy him almost another year of life." Ginny continued to watch the man in front of her with apprehension.

"But then you killed him. Harry was there. He watched you murder Professor Dumbledore in cold blood."

"Yes, Harry did watch me raise my wand and utter those horrid words. Yes, I did take the life of Albus Dumbledore, but I did not murder him in "cold blood", as you say. It was, I believe the muggles use the term, assisted suicide."

"You expect me to believe that Dumbledore wanted to die, wanted to commit suicide?"

"No, Miss Weasley, he did not want to die. At least he did not want to die at this time. But death was coming for him just as surely as the Dark Lord was. We made an accord of such, an agreement that I would grant him his final wish and help end his life humanely. I am sure that you are aware that both Bellatrix and Fenrir were present that night."

"Yes."

"Do you believe that they would have granted him the dignity of a quick and painless death?"

"No, they would have drawn it out very nastily."

"Exactly, Miss Weasley, you see, many years ago I asked Albus for a favor, a favor that I had no right to ask for and at a time that I had no right to ask anything of him. I pledged to him that night that he would have my allegiance, completely."

"Ginny, he wouldn't be here if we didn't feel that we could trust him. Remember that we are hiding people in this house that must remain secret. If _HE_ found out that they were still alive it would be _OUR_ lives that would be forfeit." Draco implored her.

"Miss Weasley, I know that you dislike me. Lord knows, that I have given you and your friends enough reasons to feel that way. But you can trust that I will not harm you. I am here to help you learn to defend yourself. I just pray that you are better at this than Potter was."

"She's really good at it. She's already able to block me. But, Ginny, Severus' skill at occlumency rivals that of Voldemort. He only wants to help you. To help us. And that in turn will help Harry, right? Will you continue to trust me and let Severus help?"

Ginny sat considering her options should she trust the man that ended Dumbledore's life? Should she believe his version of the story? Did she really have a choice?

"I don't trust you, sir. But, I also feel that I really don't have a choice but to work with you. Perhaps a lack of trust will be better because I sure as hell will need to be on my toes and guarded when I do this with Voldemort."

"That is very true, Miss Weasley. You are also very brave calling him Voldemort."

"Should I have referred to him as Tom?"

"You are very cheeky as well miss, and impertinent. Now shall we get started, I don't have all day."

"As ready as I will ever be." They worked for the next few hours until Ginny was so exhausted that she couldn't think straight. Before departing as they finished Snape told her that she had the greatest affinity for occlumens that he had ever seen. Receiving a compliment from Severus Snape was so unheard of that she nearly went into shock at receiving one personally. But, not wanted to make a big deal of it and upset him, she thanked him politely and excused herself to clean up for supper.

When she opened her door to leave the room she was surprised to find Draco standing there about to knock.

"Um, I thought that I would see if you were ready to head to supper. I thought that we could walk down together, if you wanted to of course."

"That would be nice Draco. I'd like that. I'm ready."

Dinner was a quiet affair. Most of the people there were either silently eating or quietly conversing with the person sitting next to them. As dinner was drawing to a close Ginny worked up the nerve to ask Draco if they had any books she could read. At which he excused them both from the table telling his mother that he was going to introduce her to their library.

"Oh my God! Hermione would just die if she saw this. We'd never be able to get her to leave!" Ginny exclaimed when she entered the huge library, causing Draco to laugh. It rivaled the one at Hogwarts in size and quantity of books available.

"So, what is it that you like to read? I assure you that we have a huge diversity in reading materials available including some that may surprise you."

"You think that anything in here would surprise me?"  
"Yes, my mother's secret stash of books."

"And why would they surprise me?  
"Come here and I'll show you." He led her to a shelf in the back of the library and fell to his knees motioning her to join him. He then proceeded to pull a few books off the very bottom shelf and handed them to her. She read the publishers name of Harlequin and looked questioningly at Draco.

"They are muggle romance novels. You know, smut. Sex. Porn."

"Oh God! Think she'd mind if I read these?"

"Not at all. Your free to help yourself to any of the books in here. Remember, we would like you to feel that this is your home and be comfortable here. Would you like for me to light the fireplace for you?"

"Yes, thank you." She picked up her book and followed Draco to the back of the room where she curled up in a big overstuffed chair while Draco started the fire. As soon as the fire was lit she expected him to leave but he surprised her when he flopped down on the sofa and grabbed a book off the coffee table. They spent the rest of the evening in a comfortable silence until Ginny fell asleep. She did not notice Draco pick her up and carry her to her room until she felt him lay her down on the bed. As she stir slightly in her sleep she could have sworn that she heard him say "Sleep well, my beautiful Ginny."

A/N

That wasn't as long as I wanted but included everything that I intended. I am going to get this story moving along now. Sorry its taking so long between chapters. Life gets in the way and I just have started moving away from Potter for Twilight. I started one there too, if your interested check it out. It's more of a AU-all human original fiction. The only thing I kept were names and locals. As always Jo owns everything. Thanks for reading!


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

I'm shaking in my boots

When Ginny awoke the next morning the first thing that she saw was the book that she had been reading the night before was placed upon her night stand with a note. She sat up and grabbed the note.

_ I thought that you may want to finish this. You seemed completely enthralled with it last night._

She smiled at the thought that Draco would be so considerate. In fact, Draco hadn't been acting like the Draco that she knew from school the in the time that she had been here. She climbed out of bed and looked out the balcony doors. The sun was shinning and she longed to be out in it. She took a hot shower and got dressed for the day. Just as she was tying her shoes there was a knock at the door. She has assumed that it was one of house elves so she was surprised to see Draco enter her room upon her invitation of enter.

"Afraid I'd snuck out in the middle of the night?" Ginny asked jokingly.

"Um…no…I…uh…wanted to know if I could walk with you to breakfast?"

"You know you are going to spoil me if you keep escorting me to every meal."

"A lady should be always be escorted a meal by a gentleman."

"Really?"

"Really. " Then Draco looked her directly in the eyes stating, "And maybe I want to spoil you." Draco held his hand out to her and asked again, "May I please escort you to breakfast this morning, Miss Ginny?"

She took his hand and let him lead her out of the room. At the top the stairs he stopped and turned to her, "Ginny, it's such a pretty day, will you take a walk with me after breakfast?"

"I'd like that. I was wanted to get out and enjoy the sunshine but didn't know if I was allowed to."

"Ginny, you are free to go anywhere within the house or the property itself. But if you'd rather to take a walk by yourself, I'd understand."

"I'd actually like the company, Draco. I'd like your company." They then continued on to breakfast. Which was, again, a subdued affair.

After breakfast was over Ginny and Draco left for their walk going out behind the house and into the woods. As soon as they stepped into the sunshine Ginny stopped, leaned her head back and let the sun warm her face. Draco watched with a smile and he watched the way that Ginny literally lit up just being outdoors. He made a mental note to encourage her to enjoy the land that his family had while she was there. Maybe they could start taking daily walks together. He'd really like that. He really liked her. They were still in plain sight of the house when Draco reached over grabbing Ginny's hand, smiling and blushing at the same time, which only made her smile more.

Of course that all depended on if Ginny was able to convince Voldemort she wanted to be a death eater. It just might work. She just had to keep calm and concentrate. That wasn't an easy task for anybody who comes face-to-face with Voldemort, but he had complete faith in her.

They returned to the house in time to put in another hour of practice in before lunch. She was getting better and better at only letting the memories be seen that she intended. She was concentrating on promises Harry made her and then images of Harry having private moments with Hermione.

As they walked to the dining room for lunch Draco asked her if Harry being with Hermione upset her.

"Not really. It did in the very beginning. I had wondered if he ever really felt something for me or if he was just using me because he wanted her and couldn't have her."

"Harry's not like that. I know I give him crap all time and well, I do it partly because it's fun. He'd always fall for it. And second although I don't envy him losing his parents and living with the muggles, I do envy how easy it seems for him to make friends. Real friends that actually care about him as a person and not just what he'll buy them." She took his hand this time and they continued on to the dining room.

After lunch Snape returned to give Ginny another lesson. He too proclaimed, again, that she was a natural. Towards the end he invited everyone in the house to come watch her. She would have to do this with an audience when she faced Voldemort so she needed to get used to it. By the end of the lesson he told her that he felt that she was ready to face Voldemort.

By the time that dinner was over Ginny was tired and just wanted to lay down with her book. Draco was disappointed at this, but they had spent the day together and he knew from experience that learning occlumency was very tiring. But that didn't stop him from walking her to her room before going to the library for the evening.

The next morning however everything started going bad from the start. Ginny was surprised when Draco did not show to walk her to breakfast. It turned out that two of the house elves were ill and Narcissa had instructed them to rest. It was difficult to tell an elf that they couldn't but Narcissa was smart and guilt tripped them into staying in bed. Telling them if they were to move through the house touching things, especially their food, they were liable to make her guests ill, and that would be bad manners and just wouldn't do. They fell for it of course. So it was up to Draco and his Mother to prepare breakfast for the house that morning. It was fairly good for two people that always had servants and never had to fend for themselves. But they informed everyone that for lunch and supper everyone would be on their own. Ginny spoke up at that point and offered to make supper. With the size of her family she was used to helping to prepare meals for a large group. Narcissa gratefully accepted her offer while informing her that she didn't need to. "I know that I don't need to, Narcissa, I want to. I like to cook."

It was also raining heavily this morning so Draco was unable to invite Ginny for a walk on the grounds. Ginny wandered off to explore the house with Mrs. Bones leaving Draco disappointed once more. A couple of hours later Ginny had wandered back to the main hall of the house when she heard Draco playing the piano again. She stopped to grab her book before joining him in the den. He played beautifully. He was so lost in the music that he didn't notice her enter the room at first. He played for her for awhile before coming to sit by her. They talked about Hogwarts and what they missed the most about the school until it was time for Ginny to start supper. Draco surprised her by volunteering to help her in the kitchen. Side by side they prepared supper for the house.

It was just as they were finishing up eating it happened. He was back early and was summoning them to him. It was time Ginny to put her lessons to practical use. She was good at it, but was she good enough to fool Voldemort.

A/N

It's longer than normal. YEA! I and I updated in less than a month. Now that's unheard of! LOL! It was a bit fluffy the next chapter will be stressful enough. I should have another update soon!


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

In the presence of evil

This was it. He had summoned them and now there was no turning back. Ginny now had to give the performance of her life, literally. There were too many people's lives at stake for her to screw this up. Hell, if she failed the whole world was doomed because he'd see what she knew, what Harry knew, and what Harry was up to. He'd hunt Harry and the others and kill them. And he would kill the Malfoy's. She couldn't let anything happen to them any more than Harry or her brother.

The plan was for Ginny to apparate to the meeting spot with Narcissa as she had the most experience with apparating. The group that must remain at home and hidden wished them luck with their endeavor. Ginny was terrified as she grasped Narcissa arm, with a whispered reminder to Ginny to remain submissive in the Dark Lord's presence they were gone.

They arrived at the designated spot moments later, the last to arrive. "Excuse our tardiness, my lord," Narcissa spoke up, "but we had to collect the girl from her room first and a little subduing was in order. I am sure you understand how terrified of you the little blood traitor is."

"Of course, Narcissa, I completely understand. Bring the girl to me." Narcissa dragged Ginny by the arm to the dark lord and forced her to kneel before him all the while Ginny was trembling with fear. Not fear of Voldemort only but with fear of failing in her objective of fooling him. Other older and more experienced wizards had failed at what she was about to attempt.

"Miss Weasley, tell me where Harry Potter is."

"I cannot."

"Cannot or will not?"

"Cannot, he never did confide in me that information, he only told my brother and the mudblood bitch." Voldemort looked surprised at the name that she was calling her supposed friend.

"Really, I thought she was your friend."

"So did I. I thought they both were. But I was terribly wrong." Ginny started to feel the familiar stab to mind that she had felt during her lessons and knew that this was it, it was time and she made sure to concentrate on the memories that she needed him to see.

"I see. He used you."

"Yes."

"He never loved you."

"No."

"This changes things. I can no longer believe that you would be enough leverage to lure Potter to me. Now I need to decide what to do with you. I would so hate to spill pure blood unnecessarily…." Voldemort started pacing around the room looking the answer to this new complication.

"…. However, I feel what you want Ginevra, you want revenge for your broken heart."

"Yes, I most certainly do." Ginny spoke quietly.

"I saw in your mind that your family is supportive of Potter being with the mudblood."

"They are absolutely thrilled about it. It's disgusting. They should pay for what they've done!"

"Any ideas on how you would like to seek revenge upon everyone who turned on you? Hurt you? Chose a mudblood over their own flesh and blood."

"No sir, I do not."

"My lord, if I may, I have an idea."

"Yes Draco, it is very brave of you to speak up. And what do you suggest we do with her?"

"Well, my lord, I know the Weasley family well having attended Hogwarts with so many of them and I have been the one to deal with her since we took her and I think I know the way for her to get her revenge and for to send a message loud and clear that you will be victorious and resistance is futile." Draco paused before stepping forward toward Voldemort and Ginny. "She should take the mark, she should initiate with us. Think of it, my lord, the youngest child of the Weasley's, their only daughter, a Death Eater."

"He's right." Ginny spoke up. "Most of my family members are in the order of the Phoenix, and supporters of the damn muggles. It would break their little hearts to know that I turned to you. My lord." She looked up at Voldemort for the first time.

"That is an intriguing idea. That's a very intriguing idea and so preferable to killing a pure blood. It seems you have a choice to make, Miss Weasley, choose the path of honor and dignity and respect by accepting my mark and joining us…..or die. How do you choose?"

Ginny paused for only a moment before looking him straight in the eye and responding. "It will be an honor to serve you, my lord."

"Very smart decision, Weasley. Give me your arm." Ginny stepped forward holding her arm directly out in front of her with her head held high.

"Weasley, by taking this mark you vow your life to me, you do as I command with out question and without hesitation with the understanding that anything deemed to be resistance to my commands will be seen as treason and cause for your immediate death. Are you so willing to take the mark?"

"Yes, my lord."

"Even if I were to order to take the life of another?"

"Yes, My lord."

"Even if that person was a friend?"  
"Yes, my lord."

"Even if that person was your blood family?"

Ginny did not hesitate in her final response of "Yes, my lord." And with that final response Voldemort stepped forward pulling out his wand and pressed it against Ginny arm. The pain was excruciating as the mark was seared into her skin, forever marking her as a death eater, a traitor to her family. That is how everyone would see her if they saw the mark.

"Very good, Weasley. I already know exactly how you will prove you loyalty to me. There is someone that has been getting in my way for awhile now, a member of the order that I need out of my way. You will be seen doing this. It serves no purpose keeping you around if you do not prove your true colors to the world. Everyone will know that Ginevra Weasley was smart enough to join me. You will go and do the honor of disposing of…."

It took all of Ginny inner strength to remain calm after hearing the name of the person that she was to kill. She knew that Draco would never intend for her to actually take a life. I mean that was the whole purpose of her initiating though; someone else to help save people from the wrath of Voldemort. They were released after Voldemort attended to a few more items of business. Narcissa grabbed Ginny and apparated her back to Malfoy Manor.

They were greeted by a welcoming party upon their return.

"How did it go?"

"She was amazing. Voldemort was completely fooled by her."

"Ginny, are you ok? I know it hurts." Draco tried to approach her as she stood by herself across the room. "Do you need anything?"

"I need...I need…" she looked at the faces of everyone gathered in the parlor. "to sleep. I am tired. I need sleep. Goodnight."

With that she excused herself immediately and ran to her room to contemplate what was now to be her life.

A/N:

Cruel of me, I know, to deliberately leave out the name. You will find out who it is next week. We will finally see what the other group has been up to as well. This was short too. I am not happy about that but, I don't want to force in more that doesn't fit properly just to get a higher word or page count. I hope to have to the chapter up next Saturday. It shouldn't be a problem but I want to warn all of you that my son starts Middle School, Conservatory rehearsals, and private lessons in one week then a week after that my classes start. I am taking three classes. I may not update weekly after that, but we'll see how things go. I will however, not be going months between updates again. I promise you that. Keep an eye on my twitter and my blog at blogspot. I will make announcements regarding delays there. I go by branson101 at both places.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

The others

It had been two weeks since Ginny was taken from them. They all missed her bubbly presence and prayed that she was safe wherever the Malfoy's she wasn't hurting or being tortured. Harry continued to blame himself for her kidnapping. If it wasn't for him none of them would be out in the middle of nowhere, starving, and with no clue what to do next.

A decision had been made this morning. They could no longer allow themselves to wallow and stagnate in sorrow and guilt for their missing friend. Harry watched as Luna and Ron grew closer every day. She was the only thing keeping Ron from losing it completely. To all of them Ginny was a good friend, no a great friend, but for Ron, she was-no is—his sister, his baby sister.

They had spent all week in the same spot which was not the brightest of decisions. They were vulnerable and it was extremely dangerous but they would move on tonight. There was a town that Hermione knew of where they could actually hide in plain sight. It was rather large so they were planning to rent a room so that everyone could get a decent bath and good nights sleep. But it was a four day walk from where they were. So, Hermione and Neville had walked to the closest town to buy some food to take with them. It was a wizarding town and it made Harry extremely nervous to send them off on their own, but was made to see that it made sense that it was safer to only send the two rather than the whole group. They would be too recognizable in such a large group. Harry was expecting them back at any second as he was sitting on a rock keeping a watch not only over the campsite but for their return.

He knew the second that they came into view that something had happened while they were gone. He knew Hermione well enough to know when something was wrong just by the look in her eyes. His first instinct was to believe that they had been recognized. If only that had been the case, it would have been much better than the truth.

"What happened? Where you spotted? Attacked? What?" He was frantic as he approached them.

"No, Harry we're fine. But, Harry what we found out. It's just so terrible…"

"I can't believe that she did it. I just can't…"

"Who did what? What are you talking about?"  
"Hermione managed to nick a prophet from a bin. It's a few days old but it was the front page story. Hell it was the whole front page."

"Harry I think we should sit down and talk with Luna. Neville is going to take Ron and go for firewood."

"OH GOD! She's dead isn't she?"

"Quiet down Harry! NO, she's not, but she is in trouble. I am going to grab Ron and get going." And with that Neville walked away over to Ron and they took off into the woods in search of fire wood. As soon as Hermione was satisfied that they were out of earshot she called Luna over and reached inside her bag and pulled out the newspaper and handed it to them to read. The headline was large and unmistakable:

"**Weasley daughter A deatheater!" **Under the headline the story went on to tell how Ginny was now wanted not only for murder, but for the murder of one Remus Lupin. It was too much to process. Remus was dead. And he was murdered by Ginny. She loved Remus and thought of him like an uncle. It didn't make sense.

Harry jumped up from where he was sitting. "I…I…need a minute, please." And with that he turned and walked off into the woods in the opposite direction from where he watched Ron go. He was crying by the time he hit the tree line and didn't get far before he collapsed, sobbing. How did this happen? Ginny was so innocent and pure and now she was a deatheater and a murderer. He cried for the loss of Ginny's innocence, her soul, her life. And he cried for the loss of two friends. Remus was his parents' best friend. He was a husband and a father to be and a good man. And, oh God, here was another child who would grow up never knowing his father. What if something happen to Tonks. As an auror her life was on the line everyday. Their child would be left alone in the world, just as he had been. Would there be someone there to take him in and love him?

As Harry started to calm down he started to question how the hell this happened. It had to be a mistake. He still had the paper in his hand so he started to scour the story for anything that would lead him to believe that she was innocent. But there was nothing. Tonks had come in as Ginny uttered the words. She had watched her husband die. She had seen the mark upon Ginny's arm. She heard Ginny's words. She heard her message that she sent out that made him positive that it was really her. "Tell Harry Good luck with the mudblood bitch. I am with my real family now." She then through her arms around Draco's neck and they disapperated away.

He knew that he needed to get back to camp. Neville was only going to be able to keep Ron away for so long. He needed to be there. He needed to tell Ron that it really was his fault. That Ginny was gone and that she was now a murderer.

As soon as he hit the camp site he saw that Ron and Neville had in fact returned and was currently attempting to help Hermione start the fire. If Harry hadn't had the weight on his chest that he did the scene would have made him laugh. Ron was bouncing around like a kid on Christmas. He was so excited at the prospect of a hot meal that he didn't notice the worry on Hermione's face. Harry could see it. He felt bad for taking off like that now. She was already worried about her friend now he had increased her worry more. He put the paper back in Hermione's bag and mouthed "after dinner" to her. She gave a slight nod and he went to sit with Neville and Luna and calm down some more.

As soon as dinner was over Harry took a deep breath and went to grab Hermione's bag. "Ron, we need to talk to you about something." They proceeded to tell Ron everything they knew. Harry handed over the paper when Ron demanded it. Where Harry had cried Ron got angry.

"Lies! It's all Lies!" Ron jumped up and started pacing.

"Ron, honey, Tonks saw her." Luna spoke softly.

"Ever hear of the Imperious Curse or better yet Polyjuice? That wasn't her. My sister isn't a death eater and she is not a murderer."

"I hope so, Ron, I do." Luna implored him. "But for now we have to accept that the world believes that it _was_ her. And she is wanted for murder."

And with that the group fell into silent contemplation until it was time to move on. And even then, through out the night's walk the only sound that came from them was Ron's tears at the fate of his beloved sister.

A/N

There we go. Were you surprised at who she had to "kill"? Next week we will be back with Ginny. She has more of a tale to tell right now. Don't worry there will be a lot more of Harry and crew coming. I am posting early as I am going on a day trip on Saturday. Have a great week and I will see you next weekend.


	16. Chapter 16

SH Chapter 16

Illusions and heartaches

Ginny laid in bed tossing and turning most of the night replaying in her head everything that had happened that evening. She had known that everyone was going to believe that she was a death eater. This wasn't going to be a one night only performance. She knew that there was going to be a very slim chance of ever convincing her family that it was all an act. Especially with the mark now etched permanently in her skin as a permanent reminder of her deal with the devil.

What she hadn't expected was the pain of receiving the mark. In hindsight she thought that it should have been a common sense conclusion. The pain was so bad it was nauseating. It had taken all the strength that she had left not to vomit on Voldemort, which in of itself would have been an instant death sentence on principle alone. She also had not expected who her first "kill" would be. She knew why he chose Lupin. He was Harry's parents' best friend and was very close to Harry himself. She knew that her being the one to kill Lupin would add layer of pain and devastation to Harry's grief far worse than just the death alone. Her apparent betrayal would shake the foundations of his trust in the few people that he would let near enough to him to know who he really was, what he'd endured, what he was facing. Voldemort was hoping that her betrayal would lead him to isolate himself from those few and lead him to enough despair that he would surrender.

The next morning she was up and down in the kitchen before even the elves were. She was starting breakfast on her own when Draco walked in half asleep and was startled to see her standing there cutting up fruit at the counter.

"I'd ask you if you'd slept well but I think I already know the answer to that. I should have warned you, I am sorry about that. That was my fault."

"It's fine, Draco. Don't worry about it."

"OK. I won't worry about that, but how about I worry about you?" He said jumping up on the counter next to where she was working.

"I'm fine. I was just a little overwhelmed by last night." He looked at her with raised eyebrows. "Ok. I was a lot overwhelmed. It wasn't so much the pain, I've had worse. It was who he ordered me to kill. Draco, Tonks is pregnant. Every one is going to believe that I am a traitor death eater that killed a man that was a very close family friend and expecting his first child. This is going to devastate Tonks. What if the stress of losing her husband causes her to lose the baby? It will be my fault and I really will be a murderer Draco." With that she finally let go and started sobbing. Draco jumped down and grabbed her into his arms and held her tight as she cried.

"Ginny, I will do everything in my power to make sure that that does not happen. I will ask mom to have someone watch her and if it seems like she's under too much stress or the baby is at risk we will find a way to tell her the truth. I won't let you down." He vowed. And she believed him in that and somehow in the back of her mind she thought he meant it to mean more than just the current situation.

The breakfast discussion was a morbid one planning out the "demise" of Remus Lupin. After breakfast Ginny retired to her room to lie down as she didn't get much sleep the night before. A few hours later as she emerged from her room she was surprised to see Draco leaving a room directly across from hers.

"Is that going to be the room Lupin will use when he comes here?"

"No, that's my room."

"Really?"  
"Yeah, really. Now you know where to find if you need someone to talk to."

"I just might take you up on that. Like now, I could use someone talk to."  
"Do you want to take a walk with me while we talk?"

"I'd like that Draco." As they walked through the grounds Ginny unloaded all her fears about the upcoming mission that they were going on and the repercussions that she would have to face in the future when the war was over and Voldemort was defeated.

"Ginny, do you really believe that Harry can do it? I am not asking what he's doing, just if he can." Draco asked as he sat down on a log.

"Yes, Draco. Harry will take Voldemort down. I can tell you that there were a lot of unknowns on the road that we were on, but he has the tools available to him to do it." She confided in him as she sat next to him.

"Thank you for telling me that, Ginny, for trusting me enough." He reached out and took her hand in his. Ginny, deciding to be bold, leaned over and to lay her head on his shoulder to which he responded by putting his arm around her waist and holding her tight to his side. They sat that way in silence until they had to start heading back for lunch.

The rest of the afternoon and evening were spent going over the plans some more. This time everyone that was going to be involved was there. Everyone had a part to play and everyone had to play their part well. They were going to complete their mission the next evening. It was decided that they would arrive right before Tonks was due home so that she'd see. Oh, how Ginny hated doing this to her but she kept Draco promise to her in the front of her mind.

The next evening they donned black cloaks and made there way to the Lupins' home. Draco looked at Ginny and mouthed "I promise" to her before pulling out his wand and blowing apart the front door. Narcissa took point as they entered the house and confronted a surrounded Remus. As Ginny came into view he looked at her and said "How could you?" to which she replied.

"We're here to save you, not to kill you. Or you'd be dead by now. You need to go with them quickly before Tonks gets home. I am sorry but she has to believe that you are dead for the safety and protection of your whole family."

"I don't understand."

"No, but you will. Please, we will explain everything when we get there. Now GO!" And he left with the others, not that he felt he had much of a choice. Narcissa, Draco, and Ginny made quick work of getting everything ready for Tonk's arrival. They did not have to wait long. As soon as Tonk's walked into the house wand already raised, Ginny uttered the word's "avada kedavra" and the fake Remus was dead. Tonk's started screaming and raised her wand at the three death eaters standing in her living room and Ginny looked at her and spoke those horrid words that would make every one she knew loved her, hate her. She threw herself in Draco's arms and he got her out of there. He knew that she wasn't going to hold it together much longer and he was right. The second they arrived on the road outside their home she broke down sobbing. He stood there and held her until she calmed down enough for him to pick her up and carry her to the house.

Remus was having a right fit when they entered the house. The other ally death eaters were having a hard time trying to control him. Draco walked over to one of the sofa and laid Ginny down calling for an elf to bring her a glass of water and a warm rag for her forehead.

"What did you do to her?" Remus demanded.

"Nothing, she'd just emotionally spent. That wasn't easy for her to do. But I will make you the same promise that I made her. We will watch over your wife and do our best to ensure that nothing happens to her or the baby."

"I still don't understand anything. Why am I here? When can I go home? What is Ginny doing with you? What the bloody hell is going on here!"

"Lupin, I will explain. Please just hear me out." Ginny begged as she finally sat up.

Draco was back at her side in split second. "Are you ok?"

"Yes. I am tired but fine. Remus, you can't go home. We just faked your death." All the death eaters and the refugees that had come when they heard the commotion explained everything in detail about what had happened that night and the choices that Ginny had made. Two hours later Remus seemed somewhat more placated but weary of the Malfoy's but resigned himself to the situation that he currently found himself in. Ginny took the opportunity to excuse herself for bed and accepted Draco's offer to escort her upstairs.

That night found her tossing and turning again until she heard a soft knocking on her door and found Draco on the other side holding a bottle of firewhiskey.

"I am sorry if I am being presumptuous but I heard you tossing around and thought that you could use something to help you sleep. If you are uncomfortable being alone with me in your room at this hour we could go down to the sitting room. She nodded and walked out of the room and followed Draco down the stair. Not being used to the liquor it only took a few shots for them to be a little beyond buzzed. They were relaxed and joked about things that happened at school the fights and pranks between each of their sets of friends and crazy accidents that happened around the school. Ginny feeling emboldened by the drink was leaning back into Draco while he held her in his arms.

Around three in morning Ginny yawned and suggested that they try to get some sleep. He escorted her to her room again but this time there when they got there he hugged her. As they started to break the embrace they looked at each other and started to lean in and suddenly Draco grabbed her face and kissed her forehead and looked her in the eyes and said "Ginny, the first time that I kiss you will not be when we are drunk." Then he laid his head against her forehead and said "and I am looking forward to that." Then turned and went to his room and right before he shut the door he smiled when he heard her say "So am I." And he continued to smile as he went to bed knowing that it would be very soon that he would make good on his promise to kiss her and show her just how much she means to him, how much in love with her he had always been but could never confess to.

A/N

There we are another chapter. I hope that you like it. I am getting better at making them longer. And no cliffie this week, we ended on a sweet note. Things are starting to get really busy now and my son is sick. He got heat exhaustion late last week and now has a cough that keeps getting worse. So it hasn't been the greatest first week of school for us. At this point I plan to have the next update next weekend. Follow me on twitter and my blog on blogspot as Branson101 on both and on Facebook as Princess Sam.


	17. Chapter 17

SH Chapter 17

Inescapable Futures

The next morning Ginny woke up with a slight hangover. It's just a little headache she told herself while wondering how Draco was feeling at the moment. She didn't have to wonder long before she heard a knock as she was bent over combing out her long red hair.

His breath hitched as he walked into the room as she straightened up flipping her hair back in the process. He had always seen her as a beautiful girl but had always had to admire her from afar. There was no way that she would have given him the time of day when they had been at school. At school he'd had a family image to maintain. His father was insistent about that at the time. But now, everything was different. He was different. He was her friend. At least he hoped that she saw him that way, even if he wanted more with her.

Last night holding her while they were drinking had felt so right. And he damn near kissed her when he left her at her door. Luckily he was able to control himself. She was better than some drunken kiss and he thought that would be offensive to treat her in such a way. She had joked that she had never said that she was a lady but he begged to differ. She was nothing but. The mere point that she wouldn't allow him into her room with the liquor was a big indication of that.

Of all the rumors and public insinuation that his parents endured, there was one that stood out to Draco as the truest of all. His father adored his mother. He treated her with respect, kindness, and love; something that he often neglected to do with his son. Truth be told he was glad that his father wasn't around. He could be cruel when needed and he didn't think that he would have gone along with a scheme like this. It was a dangerous thing to be attempting, fooling Voldemort, but he was proud of himself for the first time in his life. He'd always been a proud boy, yes, but in a vain, materialistic way. Now, his actions and choices are what made him hold his head up high.

As they made their way into breakfast together he noticed Lupin get a strange look on his face when he noticed him and Ginny enter together just as they had left together the night before. He made a mental note to talk to Lupin about it soon, to declare his intentions towards Ginny to him in lieu of her father. He spaced out most of the morning, daydreaming about what ifs for his future. All of them included Ginny by his side. After breakfast Ginny inquired about taking a walk with them and they departed again being watched by Lupin.

That afternoon Ginny volunteered herself and Draco to set the table for lunch. Lupin again watched as Ginny and Draco would find ways of initiating innocent touches to hands and arms and stolen glances with smiles. He had never seen Ginny smile that brightly before. She was happy and he was determined that he would be happy for her as long as Draco was kind to her. But he was going to corner the kid after lunch and make sure that he wasn't out to use or hurt Ginny. Her father and six brothers may be unable to come beat the tar out of him for hurting her but he was here and he considered her family, he considered her his niece and he would be remiss if he didn't do everything in his power to protect her.

After lunch Ginny went up stairs to read while Draco went to practice his piano. "I never would have pegged you for a musician." Draco jumped when he heard Lupin's voice.

"It's an extremely calming outlet that I enjoy immensely."

"I have noticed there is something else that you have been enjoying around here."

At this Draco smiled "Yes. Ginny is a nice person and she's fun to be around."

"Yes, but I am sure that it is not just her nice personality that interests you, is it Draco?"

"I won't lie to you, I find her extremely beautiful and intriguing. I love her company for those reasons as well as because she is smart, funny, and kind. I wanted to speak to you about this since I obviously cannot go to her father. I have nothing but the most honorable intentions in regards to her and would do anything to make her happy. I think I'm in with love her."

"Ok."

"Ok. That's all."

"For now. Just keep in mind that I am watching you, I don't trust you 100 percent yet like she does. If you hurt her, Draco, I will hurt you now, then later, when I can, I will tell her father, her six overprotective brothers, and Harry and sit back and watch them annihilate you. Understand?"

"Yes, sir, I understand completely."

What neither Draco nor Lupin knew was that Ginny was standing outside the room listening in on their conversation. She hadn't come down with the intent to eavesdrop; she had heard him playing from her room and decided that she'd rather read here where she could hear him play more clearly. She was astounded at the thought that Draco Malfoy could be in love with her. She knew that she had been developing some definite feelings for him since being her but refrained from dwelling on them or even defining what they really were. But she decided that she should make her presence known before she was discovered.

They spent the afternoon lounging around listening to Draco play while the others joined them. Ginny was reading while Fudge and Lupin played chess. The ladies were discussing current events and their hopes for the future of the wizard world. It was a wonderfully peaceful afternoon in a library while war raged on in the rest of their world. They would have their battles to fight, but for today there was peace.

A couple days later after a particularly nice supper that was prepared by Ginny and Draco, he had finally found the courage he needed to show Ginny how he truly felt about her. He asked her if she would join him in the library to read with him. They sat and read in silence while an amused Ginny could not figure out why Draco was so nervous all of a sudden, he'd been fine earlier. Just as she was about to tell him that she was going to bed he asked her if he could read to her. She was mildly startled at the request but agreed just to see what it was he was truly up to. He moved from the chair that he had been sitting to the couch where she was, taking a place right next to her before he spoke again.

"It's poems. Do you like poetry?" she nodded with a smile on her faced more intrigued than before while Draco started reading the three poems that he had selected earlier.

"A Moment To Remember by Trista Moss.

A place we go

to let us know

that our love is always true

and that we will never be blue.

A memory on the edge of time

A place where we are so sublime,

A distant dream on a midnights eve

somewhere far from acknowledged leaves.

A time in which we fell deeper in love

just like two turtle doves.

We sang our songs and gave our token

to remember one single moment."

"That was pretty Draco, I liked that."

"I'm glad. Want to hear another?"  
"Of course. Please don't stop." She leaned into him while she listened. His voice was perfect for reciting poetry soft yet deep, and calm. She knew where this was headed already but wouldn't dream of stopping him. She had dated a fair share of boys but none, not even Harry, had been this romantic for her. Draco pulled her attention back by starting the next poem.

"My True Love by Raima Dulay

For the first time in my life,

True love came along.

It took me by surprise,

A look that caught my eyes.

In the years passed by,

The love got stronger and stronger.

Finally, it took us to a vow

That will bind us together

For the rest of our lives.

For the laughter, tears, good times and bad

That we've been through.

You still got me and I still got you.

Thank you for being there always,

I love you, my true love, for the rest of my life."

By the time that he was done with this one Ginny was silently crying. She thought that the poems were to woo her, to entice her. But they were a confession. He was confessing to feelings she never would have dreamed would come from him.

"There's one more, may I?" He asked while wiping the tear from her face and she nodded again, unable to speak.

"Kiss me by Hayley Foster

Kiss me with passion  
or tender care  
kiss me with promises  
that you'll always be there

Kiss me with love  
or to make my heart dance  
kiss me with promises  
always full of romance

Kiss me so gently  
or with heart-stopping might  
kiss me with promises  
that will last through the night

Kiss me for hours  
or until our stop sign  
kiss me with promises  
that you'll always be mine

Kiss me wrapped up  
and safe by your side  
kiss me with promises  
that we'll never hide

Kiss me so deeply  
or in a warm embrace  
kiss me with promises  
that'll make my heart race"

And then he did it. Draco leaned over and placed his lips against hers softly, molding his to hers. It was an innocent kiss, tame any standard, but it ignited a flame in each of them that they had never felt before. And by the time that they pulled back from each other they knew that their lives would never be the same and they could never go back nor would they ever want to. A future that neither of them had ever thought could be for them was set in motion at that moment and it would be an amazing journey to commence upon.

A/N:

First of all I hope that including the authors name in the story cites the poems wells enough. I did not write them. Next, I created a blog at blog spot called Branson101stories. I will post info and teasers there. Also you can follow me on Twitter at branson101. Have a great week!


	18. Chapter 18

SH Chapter 18

Who the hell knows!

**Harry and Group:**

By the time they made it into the city and checked into the hotel they were beyond exhausted. They had decided that they should be safe enough where they were to forego having someone stand watch and opted for everyone to just sleep.

Harry and Ron went in first under the disguise of polyjuice. The fact that they were a noticeable group at five people they were sure to draw attention to themselves. So they had the idea that they should take the hairs off just two people and share them. They felt it would less conspicuous to be just two people even if they are seen more frequently than what would be normal.

They had spent so many nights sleeping on the hard ground that actually sleeping on a soft mattress was such a strange feeling that it was hard for Harry to fall asleep. Then there was the fact that Hermione wasn't right next to him which he hadn't realized how much he had grown used to. Since there were only two beds they agreed that the most diplomatic and proper way to sort out the sleeping arrangements was for the boys to take one bed and the girls to take the other. It took almost an hour for Harry to finally succumb to sleep that night.

They had talked extensively over the last few days and had some decisions on what steps would have to come next. They had decided that were going to use the resources in the town to look up the old witch that owned Hufflepuff's cup. That was going to be their next target.

It hadn't been easy for any one of them, but they had to put Ginny and the trouble that she was in aside and try to concentrate on their goal. Their objectives were more important for the whole than to concentrate on just one. They had to get back on track. They had not made any progress in such a long time that, add that to the Ginny situation, and the moral amongst them had been falling fast. Harry truly believed that if they could find the cup and successfully destroy it, then it would revive their motivation for what they were supposed to be doing. They had sat stagnate for too long, not only had they not moved forward but in many ways they had taken steps backwards.

Harry knew that Voldemort's interest in the witch and the cup was significant enough to warrant checking out the lead and looking for the cup. There was a wizarding library in this town and for the first time even Ron was excited to be going to visit it.

After a really good night sleep Harry and Hermione disguised themselves in order to get out of the hotel to, first, find some food for breakfast and second, to get some time alone. They had not had anytime alone really in a long time. They walked through the streets of the town until they came to a little pastry shop. They had not realized just how hungry they really were until the wonderful smell of all the baked goods hit them full blast. It took a lot of self restraint for them not buy out the whole shop. Although as Hermione pointed out that they had to feed Ron and that took a considerable amount of food. Harry laughed at Hermione's sentiment on their best friend's eating habits but could deny that it was anything but the truth.

As they were leaving the shop laden with the pastries and pumpkin juice Harry noticed a Daily Prophet lying on the ground. He stopped to look at the front page on which was plastered another photo of Ginny and the headline that read once again "Traitor Wanted" and he fell onto a nearby park bench with a look of despair on his face. Hermione pleaded with Harry to just leave the paper be and forget about it but he couldn't. Part of him felt guilty over the way that things had played out between him and Ginny. It had never been his intention to hurt her. Ron still wanted to believe that she was being controlled that she was innocent but Harry had doubts. In the first article it was reported that she said "Good luck with the mudblood". No one but those in this group knew about Harry and Hermione's budding relationship.

"Hermione, I don't want to believe it's true, you know that. But we have to at least face the possibility that it is true. That I hurt her and I caused this."

"I don't think you did, Harry. This is Ginny we're talking about here. Ginny! She abhors the slur mudblood and she was just fine with us being together. At least she never made a fuss or said anything about it. And then there is the fact that she through her arms around Draco Malfoy and called him her family. Something isn't right there."

"But what if she was more upset than she let on and really is a death eater. I should have made her stay at school. None of them should have come. I am letting more innocent people get hurt because of me and it's not right, Hermione, it's just not right!"

"Harry, first of all, keep your voice down or you'll out us to the whole town. Second, I don't know for sure what the truth is with Ginny, I just don't. And until we do know for sure then I think, well I can't believe I am saying this but I think we should err on the side of caution and actually believe that she is guilty of killing Remus."

"I don't know Hermione. I just don't know. Either way it's bad for her, and she is in grave danger."

"How about this, Harry, we are going to be here for awhile. Why don't we just watch the papers? If she does it again I think that we will have no other option really but to believe that it's true. That Ginny turned traitor and joined the Death Eaters."

"Alright. You have a valid point, Hermione. We should get back before Ron starts eating the furniture." And with that, as the two of them stood Harry took her face in his hands and kissed her passionately before they returned to the rest of the group firm in the decision that whatever was going on with Ginny would unfortunately have to be her problem for now, even as callous as it sounded in his head, they had more important things that were pressing down on them that they had to concentrate on.

**Ginny:**

It had been a week since that amazing night in the library. Not only did Draco take every opportunity that he could find when they were alone to kiss her but to remind her of how amazing that he thought she was. He still had not uttered the words he desperately wanted too yet as he was afraid of not only scaring her off by moving too fast but also for the possibility of her rejecting him.

He had also been a complete gentleman when it came to Ginny. He never pushed her beyond holding hands and kissing. Even with their new routine they established for reading in the evenings. They had taken to reading to each other in the evenings and since they did not want to disturb the others what wanted to use the library they had decided to retreat to Ginny's room. Although they took turns being the one to read aloud, Ginny always preferred to have Draco read to her. She loved hearing his voice and his passion when he read a passage that was particularly meaningful or emotional to him.

The first time that he came to her room was three nights ago. He sat on the chair while she lounged on her bed. It was the same for the follow two nights. Tonight however as she sat down on the bed her head shot up as he moved to sit right beside her.

"I promise that I'll behave myself, I'm not trying to be indecent or pushy, I just want to be close to you."

"That's fine Draco. You just took me by surprise that's all. I feel the same way. I like sitting close to you."

As they settled back against her pillows he put the book he was holding down on his lap and took her hand in his, turning toward her he asked, "Tell me what happened at dinner that had you so sad. I saw it flash in your eyes."

"I didn't realize you saw that." She sighed. "I was just thinking about the others and wondering where they are and how they are."

"Ahh. I thought as much. I mean I know that it's your brother, two best friends, and two of your exes out there."

"Two exes?"

"Yes. Harry and Neville."

"I never….oh yeah….I forgot about the Yule Ball."

"How did you end up going with Neville to dance anyway?"

"Well, he didn't have a date to the dance and I was only in third year so it was my only chance to go, so I took it."

"I see. I would have too. You looked beautiful in that gown, Ginny. I hope that he told you that."

"He did. And thank you by the way. I didn't know that you noticed."

"I've always noticed you."

"Really?"

"Really."

"And it's not just that, entirely. It's…"

"It's that they are still out there somewhere, God knows where, sleeping on the ground and not having much food, if any. And you feel guilty for being here in this nice comfy bed with three meals a day. Am I right?"

"Yes, but how did you know what the living conditions were like?"

"You forget what you looked like the night we brought you here. I am sorry, you know I think you're beautiful, but the night that you were brought here you were filthy and you had lost weight. You were always tiny but, that night; I wanted to order you onto Crabbe and Goyle diet to get some weight back on you. I wanted _MY_ Ginny here with me. But please don't let the guilt get to you. You are making huge sacrifices of your own here. You are still putting your life at risk. You are just doing it a little differently than you originally planned. And I for one am ecstatic that you are here…with me."

He leaned forward to kiss her and just he reached her lips the most searing pain shot through their arms and as they startled their heads smashed into each other. Crying out in pain they jumped from the bed and went to join his mother to apparate away, for they had been summoned.

They arrived at the meeting spot just as everyone did, which was a good thing in this world; as being late was neither acceptable nor tolerated. Narcissa and Draco had seen many of their colleagues punished for their lack of promptness, even for mere seconds. They did not want to be on the receiving end of Voldemort's wrath.

It wasn't long before Voldemort made his presence known. He was sitting in a chair in the corner of the room where he could easily watch as each of his servants arrived. He was able to watch the fear that was evident in each face at the surprise of being summoned. Draco took note that his Aunt Bellatrix was not in attendance. He wanted to say something to his mother but knew better than to speak out of turn.

"I know you are all curious as to why you have been summoned. I have many things that I deal with today. As my time is infinitely more valuable than yours, I knew that no one would mind being called together on such short notice. I wish that my dear Bellatrix could be with us today but as I think we may have found where the Potter boy is hiding at, like the coward that he is, she and her husband are off checking on the lead for me. Now, to good news, out newest member has been gracing the front page of the prophet for a week now. Congratulation's on your first kill, Miss Weasley. You have proven that you are stronger than you initially appear."

But all that Ginny could see was the picture of herself on the cover with word "Traitor" printed right over it. It made it more real than when she did it, more real than seeing Remus at every meal. She felt physically ill at the fact that she was officially wanted for murder.

"I have another mission for our newest member. There is someone else that has been a thorn in my side that needs to be disposed of. I need control of the school and as it stands McGonagall is in charge according to the governors. Miss Weasley you will find a way into the school and get rid of her. I want it completed by tomorrow night. Is that understood?

"Yes, my lord."

"Severus will assist you once you are in and Goyle will escort you there and back."

"Yes, my lord."

"And you will be seen again Miss. Weasley. We must get it through Potters head that he cannot trust anyone and that people will die until he gives himself up to me."

"Yes, my lord." Draco took Ginny's hand, not happy at all that she was going off on this mission without him. He knew that they were lucky enough that Goyle was on their side but he still thought of it as terrifying to have her out there while he waited for her at home.

A/N

Well. As you can see I am trying something different this week. Let me know if you like it. I did this for a couple of reasons. If you want to know why then see my blog on blogspot called branson101stories. This was not as easy chapter to write. I literally had the doc open all day one day and the only thing that wanted to type was 'sorry. I have nothing to say'. But I knew that that wasn't going to go over well. So I tried again and got this. It's the longest chapter yet! Also you can follow me on facebook as Princess Sam or on twitter as branson101. See everyone next week.


	19. Chapter 19

SH Chapter 19

Title here

The library was huge, so much bigger than they had anticipated. Hermione looked like she was in her own personal heaven as they entered. It was a good thing that they had decided to stay for a few days because they were going to need the time to sort through the many floors of the library to find the information that they were searching for.

So they sat down and divided the library into search areas. They would tackle a section at a time and they would stick together. This morning Hermione and Ron had apparated out of town to obtain some new hairs of muggles that wouldn't be recognizable to anyone around here. It was starting to become second nature to them to take on the body of someone new and it was become more comfortable for them at this point.

That was so strange to even think in his head, Harry contemplated to himself as to what it really meant that he was more comfortable as someone else than in his own skin. He believed that it was the anonymity that being someone else brought. When he was someone else there were never stares, never pointing people, and never the whispers that inevitably followed him.

He never voiced these thoughts to anyone, not even Hermione. Not even she would ever be able to understand. She had parents that loved her and wanted her, which was something that he had not known growing up. When he was a young child he thought that if he was just someone else then his aunt and uncle might want him around; that they might actually grow to love him one day and even show him some affection. But that day never came. As he grew older he stopped caring whether or not he ever gained his aunt and uncle's love and affection and as for their attention, well he really was better off when they ignored him.

Now he was surrounded by people that did love him and they loved him for who he was, who he really was as a person and not as the chosen one. It was the unconditional love that he had always yearned for and needed. He was saddened that his mother's own sister was unable to provide this love to him, but that was in the past now and that was where it was going to stay. Hermione was his future and if he was strong enough to make it through this war alive he was going to cherish that future with her.

But Ginny, dear sweet little Ginny. If it was true and she really was a death eater, he couldn't even convey the depth of the betrayal that would be even in his mind. But he couldn't dwell on that, no matter what scenario he could get his mind to conjure about what was going on with her, none of it was good at all.

"Harry? Are you just going to stare at that book shelf or are you actually going to pick something out?" He was brought out of his mind's thoughts by Ron approaching. Harry sighed and grabbed a few books and went to join Hermione and Neville who already had a few stacks of books that they were going through themselves.

After about four hours of searching and yielding no results they took a break to get some lunch. After that they were back to work. And this is how things were for the next few days as they searched the library from top to bottom until they found the information that they needed on the poor witch that that been fatally fooled by Tom Riddle so many years ago.

They found so much information. They found not only her last address but her whole family tree and the family tree of the house elf that was accused and wrongly convicted of the witch's murder.

They took extensive notes, writing down everything that they found out about the witch for they knew from experience that no detail was too small to discount as inconsequential and that the littlest piece of information could end up being the most important.

Over the next few days after that they made their plans for seeking out the witches past and thereby mapping out how they were going to go to about attempting to locate where Riddle hid Hufflepuff's prized cup. Not that any plans that they made would mean any guarantee of success. But they could afford to fail they had to find some way to succeed in finding the cup.

But part of the problem was that even if they did find the cup and destroy it they had no idea where to go next. Harry was afraid that without direction of where to turn next they would start to stagnate and lose hope again and he could not, no, he would not let that happen to them again.

It was the night before they were to leave to head to the town where the little witch had lived when Neville and Luna came in the hotel room with long faces and a newspaper in their hands.

They handed the paper of the Harry and Hermione and both of them cried when they read the headline; "The traitor Weasley strikes again!" This time she had attacked at Hogwarts and now Professor McGonagall was dead and much of the school destroyed. She had allowed herself to be seen again. According to the news story and an interview with Professor Flitwick, she had laughed. She had laughed like she enjoyed what she was doing. Professor Flitwick also report that she was in the company of a known death eater known as the senior Gregory Goyle.

This was it. This was the proof that he and Hermione said that they would wait for. There was no doubt in Harry mind, nor was there any in Hermione, Luna, nor Neville's mind, that their friend had turned traitor and was now the enemy.

When Ron finally emerged from the shower he looked at his friends sitting on the bed, all of them in tears and he was afraid. Day by day he never knew what the news would bring for that day. When Hermione handed him the paper, he read it, sighed and walked over to the other bed and sat down on the side facing the wall. Luna stood up and walked over to him and wiped his tears away. Running her hands through his hair she urged him to lie down on the bed and held him as he finally fell asleep, the only words that he uttered were, "But she was my sister, my friend."

Ginny POV:

Draco was not happy one bit about Ginny leaving on a mission without him. He was terrified for her safety. He approached Lupin the morning after the meeting and asked Lupin to accompany him on a walk. While they were walking Draco informed Lupin of his fears and displeasure of Ginny going on this mission without him. That if it were up to him there would be no way that Ginny would go alone let alone go at all. Draco hated the fact that Ginny was putting herself in such grave danger and that all he wanted to do was always keep her safe from harm.

Lupin assured him that he felt the same way every time Tonks would take off on a mission with the aurors. The danger she would routinely put herself in every time that she went to work nearly insane with worry. Besides being absolutely thrilled at the fact that he was going to be a father another reason that Tonks pregnancy thrilled him was for the fact that she would not be allowed out on any missions while pregnant. She was safe for the next year at least.

Draco apologized again for taking him away from Tonks and their unborn child and verbalized his wish that there had been some way that they could have gotten around it and left them alone. But there was none. Voldemort had to believe Lupin was dead. He also passed on the message that Tonk's while obviously grieving was doing as well as could be expected that there were no issues with the pregnancy. Draco also passed on that Tonk's was staying with her parents for the remainder of the pregnancy and possibly for some time afterward.

Lupin expressed his hope to Draco that he could be with Tonk's before she had the child. He didn't think that he could stand the knowledge that he was sitting in Malfoy Manner while his child was being born. Draco swore to himself that he would try to find some way of having Lupin there when his child was there. He owed him that much. He was giving Draco the benefit of the doubt, a real chance to court Ginny without the previous bias that he should have had in regards to the Malfoy family and their well-deserved reputation.

When they arrived back at the house they entered through the kitchen where they found Ginny assisting the elves in preparing breakfast by cutting some fruit. Draco came up behind her and grabbed a piece and popping it into his mouth before kissing her on the cheek and wishing her a good morning.

"Good morning to you, too. I missed you this morning." Draco grabbed another piece of fruit this time holding it up to Ginny's mouth and offering her a bite.

"I am sorry if I upset you, my love. It was never my intention. I just needed to have a talk with Lupin this morning."

"Does that mean that you won't want to take our usual walk after breakfast?"

"I wouldn't miss that for the world, Ginny. I love our walks." She smiled at that because she too cherished their alone time. The house was crowded and was about to become more crowded. Ginny was worried. McGonagall was her next target but who would come after that. How many people would she have to kill? How many times would her face grace the front page of the paper under the headline that she was a murderer, a traitor? She noticed Remus pat Draco on the back as he left the room.

They never did get their walk that morning though. Mr. Goyle showed up during breakfast with his son and Severus and they all got to work right away. They only had a matter of hours before they needed to carry out their orders and they had a lot of planning to do.

At supper time Mr. Goyle and Ginny were preparing to meet up with Severus. They all seem surprised when Ginny announced that she knew the perfect way to get into the school via the secret passageway that led from the candy shop to the statue of the one eyed witch. Before they were off Draco went up to Goyle Senior and begged him to do all he could to keep Ginny safe and bring her home to him.

As soon as the two left Draco and Goyle Junior retired to Draco's room to hang out until his Ginny returned. Goyle asked Draco what was going on between Draco and Ginny and Draco simply smiled and told his friend that he was going to marry Ginny someday, that she was his life. And Goyle was nothing but happy for his lifelong friend.

Meanwhile Ginny and Goyle Senior had apparated to Hogsmeade to complete their mission. It was decided upon that since the was very little chance of Ginny being able to convince Minerva of her innocence and to come with her willingly Ginny would stun Minerva and they would deal with the consequences when back at the manor.

They used the disillusionment charm to cover themselves as the stole into the candy store and down to the basement. When the entered the dark tunnel Goyle Senior positioned Ginny behind him as he took lead explaining that he promised Draco that he would protect her at all costs. While it irked Ginny for the reason that she could take care of herself she appreciated that he cared enough to worry.

As they reached the end of the tunnel the extinguished the light they had conjured from their wands and made their way up and out. As soon as Goyle Senior was out he spotted Severus standing in the corner. He immediately moved forward and the two men helped Ginny out of the tunnel.

Severus made his way back to his office where he was holding a detention for a poor boy that was currently laying stunned in his chair. It was his alibi to prove that he couldn't have helped Ginny and Goyle Senior into the castle. Meanwhile Ginny and Goyle Senior made their way to the Head Mistresses office where she was currently meeting with Professor Flitwick.

They smashed their way into the office and Ginny immediately stunned Flitwick while Goyle Senior disarmed Minerva but not before she got off a shot that swiped across Ginny arm cutting her. Ginny turned to see a horrorstruck Minerva looking back at her with disgust. "How could you Ginny? Do you know what you have done?"

"I know exactly what I am doing Minerva and trust me so will you. Forgive me." And with that she stunned her former transfiguration teacher and Goyle Senior removed her from the room passing her off to Severus who had awoken his student and sent him to supper while Ginny transfigured something on the desk to be the headmistress. As soon as everything was done they woke Flitwick and played their parts laughing at the absurdity of it all.

Ginny and Goyle senior made as much noise as possible and attracted as much attention to themselves as possible as they made it back to the passage way where Severus had placed Minerva. They were able to magically carry Minerva to the end of the passage and then out to apparate home.

Draco was waiting in the entry way for Ginny to return. As soon as he saw them coming up the walk he ran out the door and straight to her, scooping her up into his arms in a tight embrace, so grateful that she made it back but panicking at the blood that was staining her blouse. She assured him it was nothing but he wouldn't calm down until she showed him that it was indeed just a scratch.

They moved Minerva into the sitting room and had all their "refugees" in the room as they woke her. Even with everyone, including Remus, insisting that she was safe at the manor and that Ginny and the Malfoys and their associates were trying to save as many lives as possible including her own, she remained skeptical. It would take a while to gain her trust but they would give her as much time as she needed to come to terms with her fate.

A/N:

Ok. Sorry for the delay but I couldn't help it. Another piece of bad news; I have an exam in auditing on 9/21 so there will not be an update next weekend. I need to concentrate on studying. I am planning to update the following week though but that is not a promise as I have a case presentation due in Corporate Strategy due on 9/28. We'll see how things go and as always I will keep you update at my blog at blogspot called bransonstories101. Also don't forget to stalk me on twitter as branson101.


	20. Chapter 20

SH Chapter 20

Tears in the Night

Harry, et al:

The trek from the wizarding town that they had been staying to the small village where the witch had been known to be living when she died was strained to say the least. And to say that the poor woman merely died was the understatement of the year, it was like saying that Dudley was merely rude to Harry. Not to mention dishonor that the statement brought of her legacy. No, the poor witch was murdered in cold blood because she, like so many others she had had the misfortune of crossing path with Voldemort and held something that he coveted.

Ron hadn't said a word in three days, not even to Luna. But, really, that was to be expected when you find out that your sister has turned into a cold blooded murderer practically overnight. In fact, none of them were doing much in the way of talking at this point. They all seemed to be lost in their own thoughts and for now that was absolutely fine with Harry. The quiet of the group was calming to Harry and he was able to contemplate their mission on a whole as well as the immediate task at hand.

He did not want to lose anyone else, he had already lost too many people that he loved and was close to. It terrified him that Ginny had knowledge of their plans and of his relationship with Hermione. He had discussed the possibility of Ginny using her knowledge against them with Hermione, and even she had to admit that it was now a real possibility. Harry couldn't help the sheer panic that coursed through him that he was leading his friends into an ambush.

If Ginny had truly and completely turned on them and had revealed to Voldemort everything that she knew then he was positive that Voldemort would see that an ambush was the best way to stop Harry from advancing any further in quest. He could be leading them all to their deaths right now. And what if Ginny was there? What would he do? What could he do? What would Ron do? And more importantly what would Ginny do?

Hermione, noticing the slight change in Harry's breathing and stance as he was walking, took his hand in an attempt to calm him down before he could upset Ron again. Ron had been slowly progressing through the stages of grief as according to Ron, Ginny was dead to him.

The finished their trek in a clearing in the woods about five miles from their actual destination. They continued in their silence as they set up camp for the night. The plan as of right now, was to get into town search the house and get out again before being detected or seen. It was not going to be easy at all. They had no idea if the house was protected by any enchantments or people or, if Harry's concerns became their living nightmare, an ambush of death eaters and Voldemort.

After eating a supper of fish that Neville and Luna caught in a nearby creek Harry made them all gather around to discuss as many contingency plans as necessary, including a meeting spot incase they needed to apparate away suddenly.

Ron suggested that they amend their plans to stay for at least two nights. He himself was not comfortable just showing up and hoping that all went well. The strategist and chess phenom in him didn't like the idea of leaving everything to chance. He wanted to check things out, make sure that they knew if the house was being guarded, or inhabited or anything of that sort and if so by what. So it was decided that Ron and Luna would go into town to check and to look around first thing in the morning.

When they returned that evening it was to report the good news that all seemed quiet around the house. With the use of Harry's invisibility cloak they were able to get enough to the house to get a look inside. It was plainly clear that no one had entered the house in many years as evidenced by the thick layers of dust covering everything in sight. Content that it was much safer than they had originally imagined to enter the house they decided to carry out their mission as soon true darkness fell the next night. Using the cloak of darkness meant not needing to use Harry's cloak or use up more of their polyjuice potion stores.

The next morning they laid out their plans in more detail as they now knew the layout out not only for the town but for the house itself. They spent the day grilling each other over each person's area of responsibilities. They would divide up into three groups, Harry and Ron were together in one group and Hermione and Luna were together in another group. The four of them would split off and search the house while Neville would stay outside on watch to warn them if danger came near.

At exactly midnight the five of them emerged from the woods and made their way down the deserted streets to the old witch's home. The name of Smith was emblazoned on the front door as they entered. It was a more humble home than what Harry had expected of a witch that had had the money that Hepzibah did. He had expected an ostentatious home that would rival that of the home that he had heard Draco brag of many times over the years but this house was only mildly better than The Burrow was.

Once inside the house it was obvious why no one was living in it let alone visiting it. There was obvious structural damage in many places and it was clear that some kind of battle took place inside of it. Harry was very wary of lingering in the house for too long and had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that something was going to go wrong.

The girls went to the upstairs level to search while the boys took the bottom level. After twenty minutes of searching Harry heard Ron exclaim from the other side of the dining room that he had found the cup laying behind the china hutch against the wall. If it hadn't been for the pure excitement that surged through the two boys at the prospect of finding the horcrux they would have noticed the beam that was propped against the top of the hutch.

In their haste to retrieve the cup the boys grabbed the hutch and started to move it out of their way only to hear the crashing sound behind them simultaneously with the blood curdling screams of the two girls who were had been upstairs. The boys looked up to see Luna staring down through a hole in the floor at a spot behind them in absolute fear and devastation. The boys followed her line of vision to the gut-wrenching sight of Hermione laying unconscious and bleeding in a pile of rubble.

Malfoy Manor:

Goyle Senior placed Minerva on the sofa in the sitting room and waited for every to join them before removing the curse that they had placed on her. Narcissa had wanted to make sure that Remus and Amelia were to the front of the group so that they would be the first ones that Minerva would see as she regained consciousness. They had been her friends for years and after the initial shock of seeing the people that she believed to be dead standing before her, Narcissa hoped that their presence would keep her calm.

As Goyle reversed the spell on Minerva he quickly backed away as to not scare her. Minerva's eyes fluttered as she regained consciousness she slowly took in her surroundings, mainly the sight of her two "dead" friends crouched in front of her and started panicking and muttering about being dead. "I'm dead. Oh, God! What is going to happen to my students?"

"Minerva, you are not dead?" Amelia told her kindly.

"I have to be dead because you're dead and so is Remus."

"None of you are dead." Narcissa spoke up getting Minerva's attention for the first time. Minerva jumped up from the sofa and reached for her wand only to find it missing.

"Severus has your wand and will bring it to you in the morning when he visits. He asked me to tell you that he is sorry that he will be delayed until then but your untimely and very sudden death has caused him quite a bit of paperwork." Ginny announced from her spot in a chair to the side of the group where she was having her wound fussed over by Draco.

"Ok. If I am not dead, then why are they here? Why am I here? Why is Severus filling out paperwork saying I'm dead? What the bloody hell is going on here?" She ranted clearly and extremely uncharacteristically flustered at the situation.

"Let me explain." Ginny came over and sat on the sofa. "Please sit with me?" Minerva moved to the far end of the sofa and sat, clearly still on guard and nervous about being unarmed and in such an unsettling situation.

"Please, if we were going to hurt you, we would have just killed you and not brought you back here!"

"Hush now Goyle! And let Ginny explain things to Minerva." Amelia admonished the man.

"It is quite simple why you, Remus, and Amelia are here, Professor, we faked your deaths."

"What? But Why?" she sputtered.

"You are here because Voldemort order me to kill you." Ginny went on to explain everything to Minerva just as they had when they brought Remus into the house. But unlike Remus Minerva wasn't as quick to forgive or trust the group that had essentially kidnapped her. She was angry as well. They took her from her school. They took her from her students that needed her and relied on her for protection and guidance. Then she looked over at Remus and got even angrier. Why the hell was he just sitting here when his poor pregnant wife was so distraught with grief?

"But Remus, Tonk's is so lost without you. You should be at home with her."

"I know and I would be there with her and for her if I could but I can't. Not without endangering her and the baby. Draco has had someone watching over her and making sure that nothing happens to her or the baby.

"So, the world is going to believe that I am dead?"

"Yes." Ginny replied.

"And you missy, don't get me started on the grief that you have caused your mother. She has been hysterical and inconsolable since you and your brother ran away and now that all the papers have labeled you a murderer, your father can barely get her out of bed. Bill and Fleur had to move into the Burrow to help out and take care of her!"

The guilt that Ginny had been feeling multiplied ten fold at Minerva's harsh words. She knew that the headlines would upset her parents but she never expected that of her mother. Her mother was strong and resilient and no matter what was going on she held her head high and carried on never letting anyone see her tears or her fears. She was the strongest woman that Ginny had ever known. Ginny excused herself to bed and fled the room as quickly as possible.

Draco held back long enough to see their guests out when Amelia had finally convinced Minerva to retire to her room for the evening. Minerva was still apprehensive about the situation, but being unarmed, she was in no position to argue or to resist. She would come around, she would just need some time to adjust and let everything that she was told and had happened sink in.

Draco was about to head up to check on Ginny when his mother's hand suddenly stopped him. Remus was standing beside her with a box of tissue. "Trust us" they said smiling at Draco and they watched him practically run for the stairs in an attempt to get to Ginny as quickly as possible.

He didn't even bother to knock when he reached her room. He slowly opened the door calling out for her. He found her lying on her bed still in her clothes sobbing so harshly. We went straight for her, without thinking, and climbed onto the bed behind her and pulled her into his arms.

He put the tissue in front of her and held her and consoled her as much as he could as she cried herself to sleep. It wasn't long after her breathing even out that Draco succumbed to exhaustion that the night's events had brought on for him as well.

Narcissa looked in the door of Ginny's room and sighed in a moment of contentedness and happiness. Her son was a man, a true gentleman. She had worried for years about what kind a man he would become. But she knew now that he would be a good man and good husband. She knew that a lot his happiness and his new attitude was attributable to Ginny's presence in his life.

Then she got angry. How dare McGonagall upset such a sweet girl so much and so unnecessarily? Ginny was just as much a victim of the situation as anyone else here was. And she had admonished the girl like Ginny had deliberately set out to hurt her mother. She resolved herself to having a private discussion first thing in the morning with the woman about the young lady that she was sure would be her daughter, sooner than later. She wasn't going to let Ginny be hurt anymore than she already had been by all of this.

A/N:

I am so sorry for the delay but school and life continued to get in the way. I will post again at some point this weekend. I don't want you guys to have to worry about Hermione for too long! Speaking of time frames, it is about mid November in the story and I have decided to do something to fit my own needs here. I am changing Ginny's birthday. Instead of being in August she is now born on Christmas. If this contradicts anything in previous chapters I will go back and edit later. Thanks for sticking with me and you know where you can find updates on how the chapters are coming along.


	21. Chapter 21

SH Chapter 21

Life moves on

Harry et al. POV:

Harry stood in shock looking at the near lifeless and broken body of the love of his life lying in the rubble. Ron moved first getting to her and Luna came to her senses soon after and moved to join Ron at Hermione's side and help to assess and save her friend and comrade in arms. Harry finally made it over to Hermione and knelt at her side with tears streaming down his face. "Is she….is she…?" He couldn't get the whole sentence out and he didn't want to hear that his worst fears and nightmares had just been realized and that Hermione was dead.

Luna grabbed Hermione's wrist and proclaimed she was still alive while Ron assessed that she had a broken arm and a broken leg. Luna started dealing with Hermione's injuries while Ron left the house to fetch Neville. Both Luna and Neville had spent some time volunteering with Madame Pomfrey. There wasn't a whole lot that they were able to do medically but out of every one in the group they were her only hope. There was no way that they'd be able to apparate with her or move her very far without making her injuries worse.

It was decided that they would have to stay at the house overnight and through the next day until they could find somewhere close by to move her. When the next day came Ron had to force Harry from her side to go scout a safe place for everyone to stay where Hermione could heal safely.

Hours later Ron and Harry had returned having only found a cave about a mile and half from town. It wasn't the best place for her but it was all that they could do for now. When she was more stable perhaps they could find somewhere better for her.

But as of right now she still had yet to wake up. They assured Harry that she would when she was ready but he didn't completely believe that, they weren't trained healers so what did they know he thought, they weren't trained healers, they were just kids like he was.

That night, again under the cloak of darkness they moved Hermione to the cave by using a levitation charm on the mattress from the bed that they had moved Hermione to the day before. Luna had thought to bring the mattress for Hermione's comfort as she healed.

Two days after they moved to the cave Hermione finally woke up with Harry sitting dutifully by her side holding the hand of her arm that was not broken. She smiled at him and the first thing that she asked was if they got it.

Harry told her that they had. In the chaos that followed Hermione getting injured Harry had forgotten all about the horcrux but Neville had had the presence of mind to grab it before they left and they had destroyed it soon after getting Hermione settled in the cave leaving Luna to watch over her.

She was thrilled that they had accomplished the mission that they had set out on even if they were now stuck in the cave for an unknown amount of time while she healed. If only they could get to Madame Pomfrey her injuries would have been healed instantly but without the lady's impeccable knowledge they would have to wait while her injuries healed naturally.

It was now two months later and Hermione was finally up and moving about. They were just about ready to move on and would in the next few days. They had their next few destinations in mind and were determined to end this war to be able to move on with their lives.

They had not all sat stagnate for the entire two months of Hermione's recovery. Ron, Luna, and Neville had gone on many reconnaissance missions while leaving Harry behind with Hermione. This did nothing to assuage the guilt that be of them were feeling. Harry still felt guilty about causing Hermione to get hurt and Hermione felt guilt for standing in the wrong place at the wrong time and was no holding everyone back in their efforts to take down Voldemort.

No matter how much Ron and Harry apologized she refused to accept it. It really was no one's fault it was just a very unfortunate accident. Harry currently had Hermione out on one of her daily walks that were meant to increase her strength and endurance. They loved the quiet time the time alone gave them with each other. But what they really loved love about the time alone was the couple time activities that they could not do with their friends within earshot.

Ron had burst into tearful laughter the other day when they returned from their walk and he looked at Hermione and announced that she had her shirt on both inside out and backwards and insisted, quite loudly to the group, that he was positive that she had her shirt on the correct way when the two had left. The blushes on the two were enough to egg Ron on further when he jokingly asked "What could you two have been up to?" he laughed at them for hours after that, even after Hermione suggested that Ron and Luna should start taking "walks" together because they could be invigorating.

There had also been an addition to the group that no one had counted on but were glad for none the less. Although they wished it could have been under better circumstances. One night when Ron, Luna, and Neville had been gone for almost a week Harry and Hermione were sitting alone in the cave nervously awaiting their friends return and eating another dinner of berries and fish that Harry had caught from a nearby stream when the group had returned with Susan Bones in tow.

Apparently they had happened on her in the woods as she watched her childhood home being burned to the ground by death eaters. There was nothing that they could do to save the family members that had been in the house and were now dead at the hands of the death eaters. So seeing as Susan now had no home and no family Ron made the executive decision that she was coming along with them. They couldn't just leave her there all alone. She was their classmate and their friend.

Now they were back to being a group of six again. And they were all just grateful that Ginny had not been a part of the group of death eaters that attacked Susan's family. Ron thought that he wouldn't have been able to stomach actually having to see Ginny committing the murder of people that they knew and cared for.

That night as soon as night fell they were ready to move on again and bring an end to the pain and suffering that Voldemort and his followers were wreaking on the world. It had to end soon because every soul that was lost to this war was one soul too many and was another break to Harry's heart.

Draco's POV:

Ginny's seventeenth birthday was coming up fast and Draco knew exactly what he wanted to give her and the good part was that it was already in the house locked away in his mother's safe. He had approached his mother a month ago about it and she couldn't have been more thrilled for her son and for the fact that he wanted to give Ginny such an important family heirloom. She gladly gave it to Draco to give to her because as she said, "Draco, you've chosen the right young lady to give it too."

It had now been about two months since Minerva McGonagall had been brought to the manor and they had added about five more people. None of which Draco or Ginny had heard or met except for one young man named Dudley Dursley. He wasn't too pleased at being brought to the manor, but no one really had been until they finally started to understand that the rogue death eaters were really trying to help save their lives.

It had taken weeks to get Minerva to come around but she finally was at least resigned to the situation. Draco thought that that had a lot to do with his mother's discussion with Minerva. She had pulled Minerva aside to her study and really let the old school mistress have it for upsetting Ginny like she had. Draco had heard the end of the conversation when he went to talk to his mother about something that was important and she was the only one that he felt comfortable to turn to at the moment.

After being there and figuring out for herself that she wasn't in any danger from the Malfoy's or Ginny and finally understood why Ginny had made the choices that she had. She, like everyone, couldn't stand to lie to Ginny and tell her that all would be forgiven with her family; there was still a good chance that they would not believe her version of the story and she may end up in prison. Not that Draco would let that happen without a fight. He would run with her first. No matter where they had to hide to keep her safe.

It was now the day of Ginny's birthday and it was also Christmas Day and she was now a legal adult in the eyes of the wizarding law. Draco had told her that since he could not take her out to dinner on a proper date like he wanted to they would be having a candlelight dinner in her suite alone. This was a "date" that they had often and they both enjoyed. She wasn't so nervous at having him in her room with her alone anymore. While during their private activities he no longer acted like a complete gentleman he never pushed her very far. In fact they had discussed taking their relationship to the next level. Ginny was adamant that she was going to save herself for her husband on their wedding night. She wanted her wedding night to have that special meaning.

And for that matter, Draco agreed with her 100%, he was still a virgin himself, and was never happier that he had waited for her. Even though they were decided on not having sex yet didn't mean that they weren't exploring each other's bodies. He was never more surprised when during a pretty heated make out session about two weeks ago she reached into his pants and touched him. No one had ever touched him like that before and he could barely contain that excitement that he felt when she did. It didn't take long for him to finish in her hand.

He had been touching her for a week prior to that and that was another part of their intimacies that he enjoyed. As amazing as just touching each other was he was really looking forward to their wedding night which was going to happen sooner rather than later if Draco had anything to do with it.

So there he was in her room with the dinner all set out when she returned from getting ready for their date in his room. It was her favorite meal that he could make without risking giving her food poisoning. But he was adamant that he was going to cook the whole meal for her and not accept help from anyone on it.

She stood in the doorway in a beautiful black dress that she has made with the help of his mother and she was quite simply the most beautiful vision of an angel that he had ever seen.

The dinner was just as relaxed as any other had. Ginny continually thanked for cooking for her as she was still under the impression that the dinner was his gift to her. As they finished their dessert, Draco played with the ring that was sitting in his pocket. An heirloom that had belonged to his grandmother on his mother's side she had left for him when she died. The only condition was that it could only go to a woman that his mother deemed worthy to join the family. And Narcissa was excited to see the prospect of Ginny Weasley becoming Ginny Malfoy.

He grabbed Ginny hand and looked her in the eye in the limited candle light, "Ginny, I love you with all my heart and all my soul. I know you know this and I thank the heavens every day you are with me as my girlfriend because you would never be with anyone that wasn't completely worthy of you. But I want you to be more than just my girlfriend. I want to be your husband, I want you to be my wife, I want to have a houseful of children with you, just like you parents did. Ginny Weasley, Will you do me the honor of being my wife?"

She was stunned. It wasn't like she never expected him to propose, but she wasn't expecting it so soon, let alone tonight. But she didn't have to think about her answer at all. She knew in her heart of hearts what it was that she wanted. She wanted him. She wanted only him and always him.

"Yes," was all that she had to say before the biggest smile graced his face and he grabbed her and kissed her with all the passion that he could muster before dropping to his knees and placing the ring on her hand.

It was only about a half a second later when he heard Dudley yell "Hey, dude can we come in to help celebrate yet?" With that Draco and Ginny looked at each other shocked and completely unaware that they had the whole house was sitting outside her room waiting to toast their engagement. For although, Draco was nervous that she may say no, everyone in the house that had seen the two interact everyday knew that there was no way that her answer would be anything but the yes that she gave.

A/N

Ok. I did some time jumps here because I need to move the story ahead a little bit. I don't know how many chapters are left but there's not much left. There may be more time jumps but I am trying to keep the two groups in the same timeframe to keep from confusing myself.


	22. Chapter 22

SH Chapter 22

Endings and Beginnings

Harry et al.:

He really wasn't happy that another person was being dragged down because of him, that he was allowing another person to put their life on the line for his fight. But as Hermione so eloquently put it as she smacked repeatedly with her book that all of their lives were in danger whether they were with him or not because whether he existed or not, Voldemort did and there was no way that any of them would ever support _his_ ideals.

As Harry sat rubbing his head, and not in thought but because that last smack had really hurt, but he knew that Hermione was right. Hermione looked over at Harry and apologized for hitting him that hard, even if he did deserve it, and then she snuggled back into him. It was their turn at sitting guard and one look around was all Harry needed to know that everyone was fast asleep and dead to the world. He leaned down and kissed her neck as he held her tightly to him. That and a little kissing was as far as that went, neither Harry nor Hermione were so uncouth as to break out in a full make out session with their friends sleeping mere feet from them. That and the last thing that either of them wanted was for Ron to be the one to wake up and catch them. There was no was that the constant teasing and harassment that they would receive at his hands would end any time in this millennia.

They were already about halfway to their next destination. It was the one place that Harry was both excited to go to and dreaded at the same time. He was going home to Godric's Hallow. It would take another week to walk to the town from where they were camped. Food was getting scarce again and they were all tired, hungry, and more than a little crabby. None of them had had a hot bath in a week and if Harry was being honest, he really fucking needed one bad. It was really the only thing keeping him from taking his physical relationship with Hermione to the next and ultimate level.

They had done plenty of exploring of each other when they found a rare private moment but that was as far as they'd gone so far. They had talked about it and both were emotionally ready but Hermione was not physically ready at this point. Her injuries needed more time to heal to prevent any addition pain to mar the experience for either of them. Plus they want it to be private and special, not somewhere in the middle of the woods.

The group continued their journey over the next few days and finally arrived at their destination at the crack of dawn one week after Christmas. Neville and Ron left to go into town to visit the market to pick up some provisions. They were really pleased that they would be able to honor the girls' wishes for some fresh fruit. It had been a while since they had had any and quite frankly it would be good for all of them. Then they picked up some staples that would last awhile, like rice and beans.

They returned to camp and made plans to carry out their mission that night and then move on. They were all nervous having Harry in the area for fear that they were stepping into a trap. Surely, Voldemort would be expecting Harry to visit and guard against his escape.

That night as the entered the town and Ron led them to where they had found the remains of Harry's family's home they were all on edge. Harry caught sight of the graveyard in town and moved to go in that direction but Hermione stopped him. She had a really bad feeling about being there and just wanted to look for the horcrux and get the hell out of there.

When they finally stood outside the home where Harry had lived until his parents had been violently ripped from his life Harry could hold back the sob that erupted from his chest. Suddenly he found several pairs of arms surrounding him, but it was Ron's voice that echoed in the silence of the night.

"You never grieved for them." It was a fact and not a question to all of them. Harry may have come to terms with fact that his parents were dead but he had never mourned their death. It was something that none of his friends or him had considered when they set out for this destination.

Harry knew that he had to calm himself down before they attracted anyone's attention to the fact that he was standing on a public street corner. It took a few minutes for Harry to compose himself but he was finally ready to focus his attention on the task at hand. There would be time later to mourn but he did not want to cause himself anymore grief by getting his friends killed.

The house was eerily silent as they walked through it. Not even a floorboard creaked. Although they split up to search the house, everyone kept a close eye on Hermione out of fear that she'd get hurt again.

They searched everywhere but Harry eventually found it. He had entered his old bedroom and stood in front of his crib remembering the last night that he saw his parents, the last time that they held him, the last time that he had a family.

Ron was the one that found him and as if he could read Harry's mind, he put his arm around his best friend and as he saw it, his brother's shoulders and although it was a rarity for Ron, he told Harry exactly how he felt.

"You have a family you know. We all love you, Mom, Dad, even Fred and George; we've considered you family for years now. Since our second year at school it's never been a case of asking _IF_ you'll come home with me for the summer but _WHEN_ you'll come home."

Harry just nodded at reached down into the crib to touch the blanket that lay there and that is when he felt it. The son of bitch had used his mother's wand. The thought of something that his mother had cherished and held to herself and was an extension of her own body had been turned into something that was pure evil turned Harry's stomach and he turned and vomited all over the floor. Ron screamed for Hermione to come help as Harry continued to vomit and sob on the bedroom floor. He finally got it out that he had used her wand and everyone in the room was stricken with shock. It was abhorrent to make a horcrux in the first place but to use the victim's own wand would be like turning Mad-eye's magic eye or prosthetic leg into one. It was their youth and naïveté that kept them from realizing the levels of depravity to which Voldemort was willing to sink to.

Having finally calmed down again, Harry stood up and reached into the crib and picked up the wand. The second that his hand gripped the wand a searing pain shot through his forehead and he let a blood curdling scream and collapsed onto the floor crying, "He's coming, it was a trap!" as Nagini continued to watch them unnoticed from the corner of the room.

Ginny and Draco POV:

Everything had moved so quickly since the night of her birthday. The next day was Christmas but nothing that she was given could ever match the beautiful heirloom ring that Draco had place on her finger the night before. And it wasn't the amazing gems that adorned the ring but it was proof that he would stand by her side for ever and that he really did love her.

They had discussed it with his mother that very night, Draco was adamant that he did not want to wait through a long engagement and for that fact neither did Ginny. The wedding planned to be held in two weeks. There was a lot that needed to be done in a very short time. It would be a small wedding as they obviously couldn't invite anyone to the wedding and it wasn't like anyone in Ginny's family would want to attend at this point anyway.

But everyone residing in the manor was trying to make it as special as possible for the young couple. The women were making the bride and groom new robes. Dedalus, who was a licensed officiate, was to perform the ceremony. The elves' were outdoing them by planning a huge feast. Both Ginny and Draco told them that it wasn't necessary as the elves' were being invited as guests for the wedding, but the elves' were insistent that it was the only thing that they could give them and it was their way of thanking the couple for all the times they helped out in the kitchen.

The morning after Christmas Ginny approached Remus after breakfast and asked him to give her away in lieu of her father. He told her that he would be honor to have that privilege. Minerva had agreed to stand up with Ginny as a witness and Draco had asked Dudley of all people to stand up with him as a witness, but the two had grown awfully close through a common bond. They both were living with the regret of the way that they had bullied Harry throughout his life.

A few days later they were summoned by Voldemort shortly after dinner. To their immense relief it was just an excuse for Voldemort to disrupt their day and check on his minions. He was exuberant to find out that Ginny and Draco were to be married. For they were pure blood marrying pure blood and carrying on great family blood lines while repairing the destruction that the rest of her family had caused to her family's name and blood line by being traitors.

He also insisted that they had the wedding at Hogwarts. It was now in his possession since Minerva had been removed from power. Obviously they couldn't refuse him so Ginny spoke up to graciously accept his offer of hosting their wedding at the school. When asked, however, when they wanted the wedding to be held, Ginny gave the date of a week after the date they had originally decided on.

It was decided upon that Bellatrix would stand up for Ginny and Goyle Jr. for Draco. Ginny thought that it would solidify Voldemort's belief that she was truly genuine in her decision to be his soldier and live for his ideals if she asked him t escort her down the isle even though she detested the mere thought of it.

It was, as she explained to Draco and Narcissa later that evening, why she gave Voldemort a date a full week after the real wedding. She would be truly married to Draco the way that they wanted with their real friends and loved ones present before going through that farce with _him. _

The rest of time leading up to the wedding flew by. The ladies were all busy with sewing and cooking, while Draco and Ginny had opted to write their own vows and she was preparing to move into Draco's room after the wedding, not that she had a lot of stuff in the room that she was using at the moment. In fact that was why they chose to use Draco's room instead, there would less to move.

Both Ginny and Draco were getting very nervous about the upcoming wedding night. The fact that is to be the first time for both of them had each other terrified of what to expect. The fear was exasperated even further for Ginny when the ladies of the house presented her with a special gift the night before the wedding. It was a beautifully handmade silk and lace negligee to be worn on her wedding night. She was rendered speechless not only at the beauty of the negligee but at the fact that everyone knew what Draco and she would be doing in his room the next night and at thought she started hyperventilating.

The ladies then took it upon themselves to talk to her and calm her fears. Well, except for Narcissa, who in true lady like fashion had excused herself from the room, as she knew that no bride wanted to talk about sex with her soon-to-be husband's mother.

The next morning Ginny was awoken by the ladies of the house all ready to get her ready for ceremony that would take place just after noon. It would take a great deal of time to do her hair and make-up and dress. As she sat in the chair, relaxing, while the women fussed over her she lamented that her family would not be there to witness her marriage.

At a little after eleven, Remus came to the room bearing a gift for Ginny that Draco had sent to her. It was a necklace with a heart shaped pendant with a note lying beneath it in the box.

"_This is my heart, my love, and it belongs to you, guard it and keep it safe close to yours." _

It was a good thing that they had yet to start on her makeup and she, as well as every other woman in the room, burst into tears at the note. Narcissa stepped forward and put the necklace on her and mentioned it being something blue. Minerva handed Ginny a box with some Emerald combs that she was positive would highlight her eyes. They were a heirloom in the McGonagall family and she was allowing Ginny to borrow them for the wedding.

"How…?" Ginny started to ask and was informed that Snape searched through Minerva's things to find them for her. Her dress was new so now she just needed something blue. At which she was presented with a pair of gloves with blue flowers embroidered upon them.

Before she knew it, Remus was walking her down the aisle and she and Draco were professing and vowing their undying love and devotion to each other and then it was over and she was officially Mrs. Ginevra Malfoy. It was still a little unreal to her that he loved her. But he did. And she loved him.

After spending the afternoon drinking, eating, and dancing in celebration the newlywed couple found a moment when no one was looking and discreetly left the room to retire to their room. It was an amazing night of firsts for the two of them and their love making was so emotional and powerful that there was no doubt to either of them that they were literally made for each other.

A/N:

Whew! That one literally just kept flowing out of me. Another chapter will come soon to make up for being late. I hope that you enjoyed it.


	23. Chapter 23

SH Chapter 23

Life and Death

Harry et al:

They had all known deep down that they were heading into a trap by going to Godric's Hallow to begin with and now they were going to die. They had started to run to flee and save themselves when Nagini came out of her hiding spot blocking their only exit. Even Hermione didn't know how they were going to get out of this. They couldn't run and their attempts to apparate proved fruitless. Harry had only one idea left and it would almost kill him to do so.

They were going to have to blast their way out of the house thereby destroying the monument to the best days of his childhood. He couldn't remember those days but had to be better than the years he spent suffering at the hands of the Dursley's. Not to mention that it would be dangerous. Hermione was still healing and he was loath to cause her more pain but the danger was less than the alternative and was their last chance to walk away alive.

He conveyed the plan to the other and told them to be ready on three.

"1….2….3…." And the ensuing explosion was deafening and they all started free falling down to the lower level until they landed with a crash on the living room floor. They started to run for the door but found themselves face to face with a string of death eaters.

In a split second wands were drawn and a battle was ensuing. But no one would truly win the fight this night. The battle ended in a draw as both sides suffered casualties. Harry and Ron and Susan, all of whom were only mildly injured helped get the others to safety. But the good news was that two Horcruxes had been destroyed.

Having been disarmed Harry had pulled out his mother's wand and fired a curse at Nagini which led to a spectacular explosion of both the wand and the snake and the death eaters becoming terrified and running. Each may believe that Voldemort holds them in his highest confidence but truly it was his greatest enemy and his enemy's allies that knew Voldemort's greatest secrets.

Susan was happy enough that she got Bellatrix right in the face with a curse and she knew that there would be permanent damage and that was a start as she was determined to avenge the murder of her entire family.

Once they made it too a safe area where they could make camp, Harry got to work securing the area while Susan and Ron started assessing injuries. Hermione's ribs had been reinjured as well as a wrist, Luna had a head injury that was keeping her unconscious, and Neville had a broken arm and several cuts along his body.

They were once again being held back by injuries and there was nothing to do but wait it out. Harry started to withdrawal into himself, blaming himself once again for putting his friends in danger. Would it ever end? Would there ever be a day where people did not die just because he lived? Maybe if he gave in and gave himself up then his friends would be safe and free from the burden of following him blindly which would only led to their deaths.

"STOP IT RIGHT NOW HARRY POTTER!" It was as if she could read his thoughts with the way that she was looking at him with such disappointment in her eyes. "You can't give up on us now, you just can't" and she started crying which made him feel even worse. Ron grabbed her and gave her a quick hug before passing her off to Neville and telling them that he and Harry were going for a walk.

After about fifteen minutes of walking Ron finally sat down on a fallen log. He sighed, folded his hands in his lap and looked out into the woods for a moment before speaking. "You're an ass." He said calmly. "And you can't keep doing this to her. She feels guilty about getting hurt, not once but twice, and she's scared that she is going to lose you. That you're going to sneak off on us and abandon her. She loves you and she had been nothing but loyal to you, so stop treating her with such disrespect. I'm going to tell you exactly what I told her. It's not your fault. _NONE_ of this is your fault. You didn't control or influence any of Ginny's decisions and you're sure as hell not to blame for Voldemort's."

"I know." Harry mumbled as he sat down next to Ron. "But I have to blame someone and it just as easy to blame myself."

"I know, Harry, I know you well. Well enough to know when you're blaming your self for things that are beyond your control. And I know you well enough to know when your brooding has gone too far and I need to intervene and kick your ass."

"Thank you Ron. I needed this."

"I know you did. But let me say this and I am only going to say this once because you know I'm not the mushy crap kind of guy. I love you Harry, you're my best friend and my brother in so many ways but I consider Hermione my sister as well. So as her brother I have to tell you I will curse your ass up and down these woods if you make her cry again. And then I'll tell my mother on you and you know she's already pissed at you for dragging all us along on this."

"Ginny…" Harry sighed.

"Harry, she is a big girl who made her own decisions and I do not agree with them and I may have trouble considering her my enemy, but there is nothing I can do about it. I have to just accept what is and hope for a better future."

At this Harry laughed. "You sound like Luna. She's been a good influence on you and your temper."

"Yes, she has. Harry as soon as this whole thing is over I am going to beg her father for permission to marry her."

"Really?"

"Of course, and don't think that I don't know that you are planning to do the same with Hermione. Of course first Mr. Granger will have to remember that he _has_ a daughter." Again the two men laughed. They hadn't been boys in years and now they were talking and planning their lives like the adults they had become. This time it would be another two months before the group could move on but they only had one horcrux left to find to end this.

The Newlyweds POV:

Draco and Ginny spent most of the first week of their married life in seclusion. The only time that they came out of their room was for meals. And they wished that they hadn't ventured out for the lunch that first day. Goyle Senior was there with Severus recounting the events of the night before for Narcissa and the others. Harry and the others had been found at Godric's Hollow and while they got away there were injuries to both groups. Severus told them of the explosion of the snake and the wand at which point Ginny blurted out "her wand…of course why didn't we see it before! It's so obvious even though it is a bit cliché."

"Miss Weasley, forgive me, I mean Mrs. Malfoy," Severus looked at her seriously, "do you know what happened because I have to tell you that I am completely stumped."

It was then that Ginny noticed that all eyes in the room were trained on her. "Um, I do know what happened. Well, I'm guessing from what I do know, what it was that happened. I'm sorry but I cannot tell you. I gave my word that I'd never tell anyone and I am a lady of my word. But I will tell you this, if it is what I think it is then it is the deepest, darkest, and foulest of dark magic that you can imagine."

"I see. That's fine. We told you that we'd never ask you to betray your word Mrs. Malfoy and we too intend to keep our word."

After lunch and some minor second wedding planning Draco and Ginny returned to their room to resume their honeymoon. Draco was really happy that Ginny had been smart enough to think to plan a real wedding first without marring their memories of their special day with the presence of Voldemort and his aunt Bella. Their wedding day had been almost perfect. The only true absence was that of Ginny's family but it's not like that could have been helped.

The rest of the week was spent with Draco and Ginny hiding in their room leaving the remainder of the wedding plans to the others. There was a different dress, a different cake, everything, but Ginny couldn't get herself to really care about the details of this wedding. It was the last one that was important to her.

It was now the day before her "wedding" to Draco at Hogwarts. It was also to be the first time since their actual wedding that they would be spending the night apart and neither of them was too happy about that. In fact Draco was outright pouting as he walked her to the room that she was going to be sleeping in. Ginny rolled her eyes and pulled him into her room for a quick rendezvous before he had to leave her.

After Draco finally left for the night Ginny took a sleeping draught and settled in. She was going to need to have her wits about her if she was going to get through tomorrow without slipping up in front of Voldemort. Draco on the other hand, who was sharing a room with Goyle Jr. found himself being taunted by his friend about coming in late at night with a big smile on his face.

"Hey, I am married man. I have every right to partake in activities with my wife that puts a smile like this on my face. And man do I love those activities."

"Yeah, I can't wait to I find you have with Ginny. You are a lucky bastard."

"Yes, I am." And with that the two friends fell asleep.

The next day went off without a hitch as Draco and Ginny pledged their lives to each other once more. Ginny was beginning to think Voldemort was not nearly as smart as everyone always said that he was. It was just too easy to fool him. Severus, who just happened to be standing behind her touch her arm, leaned in a whispered, "Be more careful. You're slipping and if you do it at wrong time you'll get us all killed. Now, I haven't had a chance to dance with the bride at _this_ wedding. May I have the honor, Mrs. Malfoy?" he asked holding out his hand to her.

"Of course you may, Sir." Ginny danced with Severus until the song ended and Goyle Jr. cut in. she was passed among the wedding guests and she noticed that the same was happening with Draco. Before they knew it, it was the wee hours of the morning and Draco and Ginny decided to retire to the room that she had used the night before to get some sleep before heading home.

But before they could leave Voldemort stopped them and gave them a new assignment the needed to be carried out before the end of the day. They were to go after Neville's grandmother in retaliation for Neville's involvement with Harry. Voldemort was still extremely angry that Harry and his allies had not only escaped but damaged his death eaters.

It never ceased to amaze Ginny how easily the people that they brought back to the manor were persuaded to believe their story. It never took more than a week or two to gain their full confidence and trust. Maybe it was what they termed to be the "living dead" walking the manor or the fact that if they were going to kill they would have done it straight out and not brought them to their home.

The next two months after that were relatively quiet. There were no missions and really not much contact from Voldemort, although Ginny had been forced to attend a couple of dinners at Aunt Bella's house now that she was officially a Malfoy. By the time those nights ended she wanted to stab herself in the eye with her knife. But luckily these dinners were few and far between.

In fact, everything was going really well, until the last couple of weeks. Ginny had been very tired and sleeping a lot. It didn't really faze Draco or Ginny as they usually stayed up late basking in being newlyweds. They figured it was all just catching up to her. Until the morning that she woke up running for the bathroom. Draco started panicking about his wife being ill. Once he was finally able to get her to bed he ran for his mother and Remus forcing them to check out his wife and fix her.

Truth be told both Narcissa and Remus, as well as the rest of the adults in the house were already waiting for this to happen. They'd been noticing the signs themselves for a couple weeks.

"Draco, calm down," Remus implored him. "You won't be doing Ginny any good if you're all hysterical."

"But she's sick, how can I calm down, I want to heal her."

"Actually I think you've done enough to cause this young man." Augusta cackled at him.

"Are you saying that you think that I made her sick?" Draco asked looking very confused.

"No." Remus replied with a smile. "We think you got her pregnant." At this Draco's eyes went wide, and then rolled back in his head, then he fainted and the whole room burst into laughter.

A/N:

I really intended to get this out sooner. But here is what happened. I also write a twilight fic that was on chapter 13 this week. Yeah, should have known then! I wrote about 800+ words and then emailed it to myself at work. Go to work and only had about 200 words. Then spent 4 hours writing six pages, saved the doc and closed it and went to get lunch. Came back and the damn thing was completely gone, not one trace of it was on my computer. So I had to write it for a third time. I will never write a chapter 13 again. Again we are jumping in ahead in time. Have a great week and you know where to find me in the meantime.


	24. Chapter 24

SH Chapter 24

Life

Harry et al:

As soon as everyone was healed enough that the group could finally be on the move again they set out to find the next and last horcrux on the list. The only problem was that they were no closer to figuring out what is was or even where it was. Dumbledore had been convinced that it was some artifact that had belonged to either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw themselves. But they had no details to go on.

They decided that a likely place to search was in Albania. Sticking to the rule of no magical transportation unless absolutely necessary was no longer feasible. It was going to take weeks if not months to walk to Albania not to mention the time researching and searching for the horcrux once they got there. Harry and Hermione the only two of the group that was used to the muggle world considered their options.

They could make there way to the nearest city with an airport and fly to Albania but then they risked exposure by inflicting Ron, Luna, and Neville onto a plane full of unsuspecting muggles. They didn't think they'd be able to control their outbursts while stuck in the air and it would be an expensive option. Another option they had available to them was to take a train. That one was a viable option as it was a mode of transportation that they were all used to. But that too would be too expensive to pay for ticket for the six of them. So they decided the best option left to them would be getting a car. A cheap car, well with the size of the group it would have to be a van or at the very least a SUV.

That night at dinner the two brought up there suggest to the others. They were all for anything that would save the wear and tear on their feet. Ron's shoes had developed major holes that magic just wasn't doing enough to fix anymore and desperately needed a new pair. They would tend to that as soon as they got to the city as well.

The next morning the group set off to the nearest large city which happened to be Edinburgh to look for a new used car. The group made in into town late one night and they decided that they would get a good night sleep and start their car shopping in the morning when they were fresh. Hermione who had borrowed a good deal of money from her trust account before they set out opted to splurge on three motel rooms this time as they were all in need of a little more space for a bit except for the couples who just wanted a little bit of private time for once.

After a dinner of pizza and an evening of cuddling and watching a movie on the television and feeling normal for a change Harry and Hermione woke the next morning after having the best night's sleep that either one had had in months. Both Harry and Hermione was glad that she was apparently near to being completely healed and chose to use the opportunity of being alone in motel room for the whole night to their advantage. They had both been ready for this for awhile but were forced to wait for the opportunity to have the privacy that they desired. Hermione was honest with Harry that night was she confessed that she had had this in mind when she had suggested three separate rooms and they were both will to wager that the same thing was going on in at least one of the other two rooms if not both of them. They had waited to give themselves to each other and the night was pure bliss and perfection. It was everything that either of them had hoped that their first time of making love would be.

That morning Harry and Hermione left the other four at the motel and started their car hunting excursion. After a full morning of shopping they finally found a 1992 Volvo 245 GLT for 1100. Hermione was thrilled about it because it was good 1900 less than she had intended to spend on a vehicle. By the time that they had made it back to the motel Hermione had convinced Harry that they could afford to spend one more night at the motel before setting off. It didn't take much in the way of convincing to get him to agree to one more night alone with Hermione and a bed. Only a fool would have said no to that, especially when there was no way of telling how much time it would be before the opportunity presented itself again.

It was decided that Harry and Hermione would be the ones to do the driving at the start, as they had had the most experience riding in cars. Not that either had ever driven a car at all themselves but they were the most knowledgeable about cars and traffic laws. Once they were in the country they would show the others the basics on driving so that they could all take turns.

It took them two days to make it to the English Channel and luckily enough they made it in time to catch the last train for the day. The journey across the underground tunnel only took them a half an hour and then they were in France. As soon as they could they found their way to the countryside and found a wooded area that they could camp in for the night before continuing their journey.

They had briefly toyed with the notion of driving through the night and just switching off the driving responsibilities but seeing as none of them were very experienced at driving they decided that it would be safer to stop and sleep at nights rather than risk any accidents along the way.

Hermione had located a forest on a map and they were able to drive the car into the woods a pretty good distance before getting out and continuing on foot to safe place to spend the night where there was shelter and water available. Even though food and water was more readily available now that they were using roads and passing through towns they still were wary of spending too much on food and wasting the money.

It took them another week and a half to get to Albania from France. And once they got there they really had no clue where to start or what they were even looking for. Harry decided that he was the only one that would be able to figure it out and what he needed was privacy to clear his head and try to remember any and every little thing that he was ever told about Voldemort and his time in Albania.

He walked off for a private excursion into the woods to be alone with his thoughts. He wandered for an hour and the only thing that he could think of was that he had spent a lot of time in the woods, but his gut told him that it was these woods. He took out the map that they had obtained recently of Albania and stared at it. He wasn't sure how long he'd been looking at it or what he was looking for at all until he saw it and knew that it was exactly where they needed to go.

It was then that he realized that he had been gone for over four hours now and really needed to get back anyways before he worried Hermione and the others anymore than they already would have been. The further that he trekked through the woods back towards the rest of the group the more certain he became of his epiphany of where they needed to head next was the right call.

As he came out of the woods into the clearing where the others were gathered he blurted out, "Lake Pavdekësi. It translates to Lake Immortality."

"That is so like him to do something like that. It's perfect." Ron agreed.

After some discussion and a supper of sausage and eggs they retired for the evening content that they had an absolute destination and a feeling of hope that this whole nightmare was going finally come to an end soon.

**Draco and Ginny:**

Draco was only out for a few minutes before he came to and remembered what Remus had said to him.

"Did you say what I think you said?"

"Yes." Remus said with a smirk while offering his hand to help Draco up off of the floor. After Draco was standing he noticed that the room had cleared out pretty quickly after he fainted. Pregnant? Wow. Was he really about to become a dad? That was unreal and really not something that they had really talked about. He knew that both he and Ginny wanted to have a large family but they hadn't even made it a priority to discuss when they wanted to start one. "Draco? Are you ok with this?"

"What? Oh, yeah, I really am. I'm just in shock still."

"I totally get that. We should get upstairs to Ginny and make sure that she is alright and see about her taking a pregnancy test just to be sure."

"OH God, yes." And as Draco turned to head back upstairs to his wife Remus grabbed his shoulder and told Draco that he too had fainted when Tonks told him of her pregnancy and that apparently it was a common thing for a man to do when learning of the news.

When they made it back up to Ginny room they found her lying in bed with a rag over her eyes while Narcissa was sitting by her side.

"Sweetheart, are you feeling any better?"

"A little bit, but not a whole lot better. Your mom flooed for a healer to come but I don't think its anything serious. It's probably just a bug or something that I ate."

"Actually," Draco said, moving the rag off her eyes but keeping it on her forehead, "We think it's a little more serious than that, honey."

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked sitting up a little in alarm.

Narcissa looked over at Draco with a scowl for upsetting his wife, but he had a huge smile on his face, before placing her hand on Ginny's shoulder and gently pushed her back to lying down and said, "He just means that you are acting the same way that I was….when I was pregnant with Draco."

"You think that I'm….no….we…but we've been using protection…every time."

"Not every time." Draco spoke up.

"Yes we have."

"No, we haven't."

"Ok smartass. When then?"

"The night before our second wedding at Hogwarts." Draco said still smiling

Ginny thought about this for a minute before a huge smile graced her face, "OH GOD! I'm really pregnant!"

"We think that you are but we should verify it with a healer before we start celebrating." Minerva spoke up.

Within the hour the healer had shown up and performed the necessary tests to confirm that Ginny was in fact two months pregnant and would be due to give birth in early September to twins.

Draco was over the moon about Ginny carrying his babies. The day they found out after they were done celebrating, Ginny fell asleep for a much needed nap and Draco took the opportunity for a much needed talk with his children. He vowed to them that he would always strive to be a better man and father to them than his father was to him and that he would always find a way to protect them and their mother from his father. Little did he know that keeping that promise was going to be easier to keep than he thought it would be.

A week after the joyous news was announced in the manor came that news that Lucius Malfoy was found dead in his jail cell. Narcissa, who through all of his faults, loved her husband very dearly was overcome by grief and spent the next few days hidden in her room with her sister, Bellatrix, who had come the moment that she had heard. The refugees that they had hidden in the house kept themselves locked in their rooms with the elves sneaking them food whenever the coast was clear. Ginny and Draco laughed one night about what an unobservant, self-centered idiot his aunt was. She was so caught up in herself that she rarely noticed anyone else…unless they were annoying her in some way. Draco, however, was attempting to balance his time caring for both his pregnant wife and his grieving mother.

Ginny's morning sickness had hit a level that she could barely get out of bed until at least noon. Luckily for her, the day that they confirmed Ginny's pregnancy Narcissa had taken Draco down to the kitchen and showed him how to brew a special herbal tea that would help settle Ginny's stomach and it worked as perfectly for Ginny as it had helped Narcissa so many years ago when Lucius would make it for her.

It did not escape Ginny's notice that her husband, while still sad, was not really upset or grieving for his father. It was her own father she would have been as inconsolable as Narcissa had been. She knew that Draco wasn't a huge fan of his father's but she could not understand why he seemed so unaffected by the death. After talking about it one night as they lay in bed he admitted that he was actually relieved that his father was gone. He feared his father's eventual return to the manor and his subsequent reactions not only to the fact that they had turned against Voldemort but that he had married Arthur Weasley's daughter. He feared how his father would treat his wife and children and above everything else he really had never wanted to see his father again.

The funeral was a quiet and private affair attended only by family and a handful of death eaters. Lucius was laid to rest in the family crypt on a cold, cloudy Saturday morning. Voldemort was not in attendance as his stance on Lucius was quite clear. He was a fool and weak to get caught and sent to prison and was weak once more by succumbing to death. There was a glint in his eye when he was informed that Ginny was absent from a meeting a few days prior to the funeral due to her morning sickness and humbly begged his forgiveness for said absence. Draco almost lost his stomach when Voldemort offered a toast of mead to the future death eaters that was soon to be born and that the future of the pure blood would prevail and multiply once more.

There was no way in hell that Draco would ever allow his children to join Voldemort's death eaters. His father had forced him to join when he had never wanted anything to do with the life what-so-ever. But with any luck that was going to be a non-issue anyway. He was confident in Ginny's confidence that whatever it was that Harry was up to that he really did know what he was doing and was going to be able to put an end to this crap sooner rather that later.

It was approximately a week after the funeral when two things happened one morning. The first actually triggered the second. It began when Ginny, returning to her bed after her morning flight to the bathroom stopped to stretch just as Draco reentered the room with her tea, almost dropping the tea when he noticed the bump protruding ever so slightly from his wife's stomach that was visible the day before.

Ginny looked up suddenly at hearing Draco gasp from the doorway. "Wow!" he whispered, making his way over to her and falling to his knees, moving her shirt up and placing his hand on her stomach. This made it so much more real than it had been before. It was almost like he could see the babies now. He stood up and kissed his wife passionately before helping her back into bed and taking off to find his mother. Deep down he knew that this would make her happy and it did. For after coming down to witness the baby bump for herself she resolved for the first time since her husband's death to start living again. He was gone and never coming back but there was a new generation of Malfoy's on their way that needed their Grandmother and matriarch of the family to be strong and just to be there in general.

It was only a couple of days later that Draco was summoned to Voldemort for a new assignment. This time the task he was given horrified him. They were to go after a young couple with a one-year old baby. And what made it worse was that there would be nothing that he could do to save the couple as Bellatrix was assigned to go with him. But there was something that he could do for the child. Both parents were pure-bloods and Draco seized an opportunity to play on Voldemort's obsession with blood status and implored him to allow them to spare the child. He offered the solution that he and Ginny would raise the child in proper pure blood ways like he had been raised. Voldemort agreed and allowed Draco's request, he just hoped that his wife wouldn't be disgusted with him and what he was about to do.

A/N:

Hey there! I'm late again, I know! But there was another auditing exam that was a priority and finals are coming up so updates are iffy for the next month or so. Things are moving along and are going according to what I had planned for everyone. I took some liberties with Albania. To my knowledge there is no Lake Immortality. Anyhoo you know where to find me between chapters.


	25. Chapter 25

SH Chapter 25

Title

Harry et al.:

They had been in Albania for nearly four months now and it had been nothing but a waste of time. It was evident that Voldemort never hid a horcrux in the country and now the group was more desperate for ideas than ever. For the last four months they had searched forests and wizarding towns in the hopes of finding just one tiny clue that would have made the time and effort worth the time that they had given to this location. But it had been nothing but a waste of their precious time.

Not only was it weighing on them that they were so obviously wrong in the train of thought of going to Albania but they had the guilt on them over the string of murders that had taken place in their absence. They were able to pick up the news here and there and while they were aware that Draco was involved in the murders, including a nasty one of a young family where their child's body had yet to be found, they noticed that Ginny was no longer being accused of any of the murders. In fact her name was never mentioned in the papers at all.

They group was tired and needed to rest and regroup and just to think. And well Ron wanted a hot meal and a hot shower. He was very adamant about that last part and the thought of a hot shower was more than appealing to whole group, so when Hermione suggested that she knew that Viktor would not mind some unexpected house guests and made the suggestion that they detour to Bulgaria for a short visit to regroup.

After traveling for three days they finally arrived at their destination in the middle of the night. The night was cool especially with it being June. They didn't have to wait long for Viktor to open the door. His look went from half asleep to complete and utter shock when he finally was able to take in the group standing on his doorstep at three in the morning. He quickly ushered them into the house before any of his neighbors could see them, if they were awake at this hour.

"Sorry, for just showing up, Viktor, but we really had no way of sending a message ahead." Harry spoke up.

"No, no, don't worry about it. From the looks of the lot of you it looks like you've been through Hell and back. What is going on? The news said that you all got scared and ran off and you have been in hiding.

"We have, kinda" Hermione spoke up. "So much has happened."

"What does "kinda" mean. Either you are scared of You know Who or you're not."

"What that means is that yes, he scares us, we'd be stupid not to be scared for our lives, but that is not exactly the reason that we are hiding. I wouldn't even call it hiding really, more like attempting to operate outside of his radar." Harry spoke up and immediately realized that the mugglism that he used was lost on everyone except Hermione.

She laughed and kissed his cheek before turning back to the room and explaining that Harry simply meant that they were working on something that has to remain a secret and we're trying to keep Voldemort from finding out what they were up to.

"Well, he knows that you are up to something because what I do know is that he has increased his efforts to find you over about the last six months. In fact they may already know that you are here. I know that they have been watching my mail, so it's good thing that you didn't try to owl me. Fleur told me that that they are watching the Weasley family's every move too. So don't even try to contact them. You be signing their death warrants if you do Ron."

"Thanks for the warning. But I am still waiting for Mum to calm down before I try to talk to her. I'm pretty sure that she wants to hurt me more than Voldemort does."

"Yes, I heard about your sister. Personally, it was a real shock to hear about her and Malfoy. I never saw that marriage coming."

"WHAT!" came a chorus of startled voices.

"You didn't hear that Ginny married Draco Malfoy?"

"No, we've been hiding under rocks lately. When did it happen?"

"January. There was a big write up about it in the papers. It was at Hogwarts. Voldemort has control of the school now. I still have that paper around here somewhere. There was an article involving me and I always keep a copy of those papers. Oh here we go." He pulled out an old copy of the local paper and handed it to Ron. And there on the front page was a picture of a smiling Ginny being given away by none other than Voldemort himself. Ron jumped up and ran out of the door and vomited in the hedges.

Luna and Neville had been hot on his heels. Viktor had grabbed Harry and Hermione when they went to follow saying it would be safer for all if they stayed inside so they weren't seen. He left the two to quietly wait while he went to make some tea for the group.

When Ron was able to calm down enough to come back inside and rejoin the group Viktor told them everything that he knew about what the paper's had been saying about her becoming a death eater and the murders that she had been accused of. Of course Harry and the others knew pretty much all of it and really weren't that surprised that not only the general public but pretty much everyone that knew Ginny believed that she was the murderer that she was being accused of being. As Viktor told Ron, the evidence against her is just too staggering to ignore.

"I know that as her brother you love her and don't want to believe that she is capable of doing these horrific things but this is war and with war comes that indisputable fact that things change and people change and sometimes not for the better."

He then offered them rooms to stay in to rest up but suggested that it may not be safe for any of them if they lingered too long. They knew that it wasn't his own neck that he was protecting but theirs.

Ginny and Draco:

Ginny was ever so grateful that the morning sickness had ended months ago. Especially since Draco came home one night upset and needing her comfort and not to mention that the little surprise he came home with.

Ginny had been pacing the bedroom waiting for Draco's return, waiting for him to return from being summoned to Voldemort. Everyone kept telling her that he'd be just fine, but she was not going to be able to rest and relax until she saw for herself that her husband was home safe and sound.

When he did show up at three in the morning he came into the room carrying a small child. He looked at his mother and then his wife pacing the floor and immediately fell to his knees.

"Forgive me. Please tell me that you forgive me for what I've done."

"What happened?" Ginny was now more scared than she was before Draco had come home.

"He-He sent me with Aunt Bella. There was no way out of it." Draco was crying now.

"You killed someone?"

"Yes."

"Who?"

"He sent us to kill this family. I talked him into letting us spare the child. But the parents had to go. I didn't want to, you know that I didn't want to, but I didn't have a choice and they didn't have a chance. Please don't hate me."

"Draco look at me. I don't hate you. I love you. I'll always love you. Tell me what happened."

Draco slumped down but started telling his wife the horrific events that he had taken part in over the course of the evening. How he tried his hardest to make his curses miss the couple but because the couple were moving and trying to fight back he couldn't be sure that he did miss.

Ginny let out a sigh as she ran her hands through his hair. "Draco, did you actually see any of your curses hit them?"

"No I didn't."

"And can you agree with me that your Aunt is a tremendously skilled fighter and it is extremely doubtful that she missed her mark?"

"Yes."

"Then I think that it would be reasonable and safe for us to assume that she was the one that killed them and not you. You were just an unfortunate bystander."

"Yes, I know but that doesn't change the fact that I didn't do anything to save them."

"Draco, you did though. You opted to allow your aim to be off. But, honey, we all knew that we weren't going to be able to save everyone and while it does upset me that two innocent people are dead. Look at all the lives that we have been able to save. That has to count for a lot. At least there were no children involved." She concluded as she tried to get up.

"About that Ginny, there was a baby involved."

"OH GOD! She didn't—"

"NO! I knew that they had a baby and begged Voldemort to allow us to spare him. He's pureblood and all and I knew to play to that."

"Draco, where is the baby now?"

"He's downstairs with Mom."

"And what is going to happen to him now?"

"Voldemort said that we could adopt him and raise him with the proper pure blood values that Voldemort believes in?"

"How old is this baby Draco?"

"He's about fourteen months old."

"We just got married, I'm six months pregnant with twins and you thought you'd just volunteer for us to adopt a one year old without talking to me about it first?"

"There was no way to ask you first. It all happened so quickly but I knew that I had to save that baby, Ginny. I couldn't just let an innocent, defenseless baby get murdered. And if wasn't for me being there to save him, Aunt Bella would have killed him."

"See, that is the reason that it was a good thing that you were there Draco. There is the point of the evening, the silver if you will. If you weren't there then an innocent child would be dead. The parents were adults that understood the risks that they were taking by taking sides. Just like I know that it could be me next. Voldemort could figure out what we've been up to and order your aunt to kill me. And she would not hesitate to do it and I know that I am no match for her."

"I love you so much. You always know just what to say to make me feel better. But you are wrong you know?"

"I'm wrong about what?"

"That you are no match for my aunt. You are and besides, there is no way that you'd stand alone against her. Mom and I and a whole lot of people that are living in this house right now would stand up to defend you. Now, what do you say to meeting your new son?"

"I say, let's go. What's his name, by the way?"

"Ayden Benjamin."

As the two made their way down to the sitting room to meet their son an idea hit Draco of what he wanted to do with his life after this whole damn war was over. They had the big manor and a lot of money but what they had the most of was love. It was the first time in his life that he felt the manor that he grew up in as a true home and he wanted to share that feeling with as many people as possible.

A/N:

Sorry for the delay. School and a client that I want to strangle got in my way. Again, we are going into finals so updates will be sporadic. Have a Happy Thanksgiving! I am seeing DH pt1 tonight! Yes! Can't wait!


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Life after Death

Harry et al:

The group stayed with Victor for a week before moving on. He was really a great guy even if he did still harbor some feelings for Hermione. He had asked point blank when they had gotten together because both of them had adamantly denied that there was anything between them but friendship when Victor had met them a few years back. He seemed appeased that it had only been a recent development and they had not deliberately lied to him.

But they had more pressing matters than school days crushes. Voldemort had taken over Hogwarts and they feared for the lives and safety of the students and their friends that remained behind. Ron however had decided that the news that his sister had married Draco Malfoy as a sure sign that she was under the Imperius curse that that she was being controlled. He was convinced that there was no way that she would ever marry that guy of her own free will and took every opportunity to assert his belief of her innocence.

Harry was positive that Victor did not buy into Ron's belief that his sister was being forced into doing things against her will. In fact, Harry became so concerned about Victor's reaction whenever the subject came up that he cornered him one night after everyone else had gone onto bed.

"Is there something that you know about Ginny that you aren't sharing with us?" Harry asked quite bluntly, just wanting to get to the point.

"Yes there is. I really don't think that Ron should know right now. If he has convinced himself that they are controlling her and forcing her to do things this will send him over the edge."

"What is it? What has she done now?"

"It's…Harry, the papers reported several months back that Lucius Malfoy died in

his sleep at Azkaban."

"Really? But what does that have to do with Ginny?"

"The photos of the funeral showed a very pregnant Ginny."

"Pregnant. Ginny is pregnant? Wow."

"You see why I didn't want to tell Ron. He will immediately assume that Draco forced her to have sex with him and he will…."

"…go ballistic. Yeah. I agree. Now is not the time to tell Ron about this. But I will have to tell Hermione. I can't keep this from her."

"Yeah. I am going to have to leave in the morning for a match in London but you guys are still more than welcome to stay."

"Thanks but I think it's time to move on again. We have a few new ideas that we want to check out and its past time that we end this."

"Good luck Harry Potter. I trust that we will meet again really soon."

"Bye Victor and thank you for everything."

And with that the two gentlemen went off to their respective rooms for the night. Harry crawled into bed and snuggled up behind Hermione whom he was pleasantly thrilled to find still awake.

"Did you and Victor have a good talk?"

"How did you know?"

"Because I know you so well Harry. I know that something about him has been bugging you for a while. I've know that you've caught him watching me and you know that I don't want him like that right? I love you."

"I love you too Hermione. And although you're right I've seen him looking at you when he thinks that no one is paying attention that is not what I needed to talk to him about. I needed to ask him what he was hiding about Ginny."

"Did he tell you?" Harry went on to tell a shocked Hermione everything that Victor had divulged about Ginny and she agreed that there would be no controlling Ron if he thought that his baby sister was being raped. Which Hermione was sure was not the case. Malfoy may have been a nasty piece of work as they grew up but a rapist he was not. Besides Hermione, like Harry, was not convinced by Ron's arguments in defense of his sister but like everyone else just nodded along with him and allowed him to believe what he needed to get through the day.

Harry then went on to tell Hermione that Victor would be gone when they woke in the morning and that they would move on that night. They made the most out their last night in a bedroom alone together showing each other how much they loved the other.

The next day was spent refining their plans. They only had the only had the one left but they still had no clue what it was but they had spent their time this past week coming up with new ideas.

One was the old theory that there was something hidden somewhere within the walls of Hogwarts. But the knowledge that Voldemort was now in control of the school made it near impossible that they would be able to gain entry to search with out being found. So they decided to check out other ideas first and search Hogwart's as a last option even though they all agreed that it was the most likely location and every one of their instincts told them that that is where it was hidden.

So they moved on and searched high and low for the next month and a half for that last elusive horcrux. Finally, they knew that they were going to have to go to Hogwart's and risk exposure to find the horcrux.

Luna was the one that had figured out what the last horcrux was that they were searching for. It hit her one night while sleeping that there had always been the girls that gossips about boys and fashion and girly things that Luna just wasn't interested in. But she suddenly remembered that they always mentioning a bracelet that Rowena was given by her husband for her last birthday before he died. It was very special to her and she refused to take it off. Her daughter had taken possession of it after Rowena had died and later, after the daughter had died and it had been left to the school, it had been stolen and never seen again.

Now that they knew what they were looking for the only trick would be to get into the school and find and destroy it before they were found and destroyed. But no matter what the outcome would be of going to the school would be it real finality of the decision to go would be that one way or another it would all be over soon.

Ginny/Draco:

It had been a hard pregnancy for Ginny. Just being pregnant with twins would have been hard enough but then Draco went and added a toddler into the mix. Ayden was a wonderful baby but was a lot of work. Surprisingly enough to Ginny, Draco was a very involved father. They way that he doted on Ayden made her even more excited to him with the twins when they were born.

Their home was getting more crowded by the day. As time went on and Harry was still missing, Voldemort got angrier and more desperate to find him. Narcissa and Draco were constantly being called away on missions. Voldemort had ordered that Ginny be kept as safe as possible and not go out on missions. She was carrying pure blood and he did not want to risk anything happening to the pureblood race that he was determined that her and Draco would single handedly repopulate the pure blood race.

"I am not a fucking baby factory, Draco. This needs to end. I am not going to keep getting pregnant to keep him happy." Ginny had yelled at Draco one night when her emotions had gotten the best of her.

"I know sweetheart. I know. I do not want to do anything that would hurt you emotionally or physically. I will not hurt you and I will not let anything happen to you or our children, Ginny. I love you."

"I know, Draco. I love you too. But he is so insane about this and keeping me in a bubble and Mom said that he brought up me getting pregnant again right away. He even asked Mom about the possibility of _HER_ getting pregnant. He even went so far as to tell her that there were plenty of pure blood males, single and married that could be used to get her pregnant now that he husband was dead."

"He didn't!"

"He did. She told me all about how he went on and on about how weak your father was and the weak deserved to die while the powerful and strong would repopulate the pure blood race. Oh and if you turn out to be weak like your father then there Young Goyle is single and a suitable male for me to continue procreating with."

"Next thing you know the psycho-ass will be considering fathering a kid with mom himself. No way in hell is he touching my mother! And there is no way that Greg is laying a single fucking hand on you. I'll kill Voldemort myself."

"First of all, not possible it's a pureblood race that he wants, and thank God his mother married a muggle. And second you cannot kill him only Harry can and when everything is in place."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that little hidden secret about dear old Tom Riddle. And sometimes I really wish that you could tell me what you know but then I know that I am probably better off not knowing."

Ginny walked over to Draco and put her arms around him. "You are better off not knowing this right now. Someday you will know everything. I promise. Now we had better get to sleep because we have a crowded house and we are on breakfast duty in the morning.

The next morning while Ginny was setting the table for breakfast the Young Goyle walked in carrying a large envelope that he immediately dropped on the table and rushed over to take the stack of plates from Ginny admonishing her for carrying so much. She assured him that she was fine but he still finished the table for her while he made her sit down. Ginny giggled when she heard him threatening to curse Draco for not doting on his wife enough. She decided to change the subject by asking what was in the envelope.

"Ahh. That is new pictures of little Theodore Lycurgus Lupin. That boy is sure getting big."

"What boy?" Remus asked walking out of the kitchen with a platter of food and setting it on the table next to Ginny. Then looking at her and moving to the other side of the table saying that he wanted it to still be there when everyone else arrived for breakfast.

"Your boy." Goyle jumped in before Ginny could lose it and yell at Remus as everyone knew that she was close to doing. She always did have a temper but the pregnancy hormones made everything so much worse.

"You got me new pictures of Teddy." Everyone knew that it was hard still being separated from his wife and child. Tonk's parents had been by her side and held her hands throughout the delivery of their son. Remus may not have been able to be there for the delivery but he did get to hold his son all of one time. Under the guise of the polyjuice potion Remus impersonated a healer, went to the nursery at St. Mungoes, and held his son for the hour that he was allotted. It broke his heart completely to leave his son and even more so by being so close to his wife at not being able to see her, to kiss her, or to hold her.

Remus was busy staring at the pictures of his son when he heard Ginny let out a yelp behind him. He spun to see her reaching across the table for the tray of food and clutching her stomach.

"What's wrong?"

"I think it was a contraction. But it's too early. I'm not due for a month!" Ginny had been scared that she would have the babies too early and they wouldn't be ready to be born yet. Remus yelled for Draco while Greg went to find Narcissa and Minerva.

Everyone assured Ginny that it was normal for twins to come early and everything should be fine. In addition, they were even sure that she was in full labor yet. She had only had one possible contraction. However, the next one came exactly ten minutes after the first and included her water breaking. Draco carried Ginny up the stairs to their bedroom and summoned a healer to come help with the birth.

It was ten long hours later that their son was born, Alexander Maban Malfoy. They had chosen to keep with the tradition of using mythological names. A half an hour after Alexander was born his little sister entered the world, named, Cassandra Aoife Malfoy.

Alexander looked like his mother but had his father blonde hair while Cassandra was just looked like her father with strawberry blonde hair; a perfect mix of her parents' blonde and ginger. Ayden was brought into the room before his Grandmother put him to bed to meet his baby brother and sister. He kissed the twins then gave both his parents a hug and kiss good night before being taken from the room yawning. And it the midst of a war there was peace in the house at that moment with two young parents holding their newborn babies. Ginny and Draco fell asleep that night to dreams and wishes for peace in their world.

But it didn't last long because as every parent knows babies have no qualms about waking an entire house when they need attention. Ginny and Draco learned very quickly that a toddler that slept all night was infinitely much easier to care for than newborn twins that woke hungry or wet every couple of hours…and never at the same time.

It always seemed that as soon as they got one settle and just fell back to sleep the other would wake up. It was a never-ending stream of changing nappies and feedings and crying. There was lots and lots of crying. And not just from the babies. Ginny was dealing not only with the lack of sleep, but her body was attempting to return to normal and her hormones were still going crazy and she would burst into tears for apparently no reason at all. Draco didn't know what to do to help his wife, his mother and every other person in the over crowded house told him to just be as helpful as he possibly could and bite his tongue when need be just like when she was pregnant.

It was a long two months but Draco had finally convinced Ginny to allow the others to get up with the babies one night a week around the one month point to allow them to get a good night's sleep. Her mood swings seemed to be non-existent anymore and Draco was glad to have his real wife back, the one that laughed at his jokes and not the one that would smack him and tell him to sleep on the couch.

Tonight he was planning a romantic night with his wife. Dinner in their room and hopefully, if he was lucky then he would get to make love to his wife again. Nevertheless, luck was not on their side as they were summoned the minute that they sat down to eat. When they arrived to where they were summoned to they were surprised to find that not only were they at Hogwarts but Voldemort had captured Harry, Hermione, Ron, and the others.

A/N:

This is almost done. I am thinking one more chapter then the epilogue. I am sorry that I've been MIA but that final was killer and then I needed to recover. But I am back and ready to finish this. The names have meanings Alexander means "to defend", Madan: "son"; Cassandra: "to shine" and Aoife (pronounced EE-ffa): "beauty" and Lycurgus: "by the wolf"


	27. Chapter 27

SH Chapter 27

Coming Full Circle

"Ahh…Ginny and Draco I am so pleased that you could us. I seem to found some common enemies of ours." Ginny looked at looked around at the group of her friends. Narcissa was holding Harry and Ron was held by Goyle Sr. Harry and Hermione looked absolutely terrified and Ron…Ron wouldn't even attempt to make eye contact with her. "Come now Mrs. Malfoy…" Voldemort started again and then turned to look at his group of hostages. "You did know that young Ginevra married Draco here. Oh…that's right! You didn't get on with Draco did you? Jealousy is how Lucius described it."

"It's not important though. What is important is that I finally have you at my mercy and you and your friends will pay dearly for ever thinking you could defy me and get away with it. Ginevra!" he shouted turning away from her. "Kill your dear brother."

Ginny looked up, raised her wand, pointed it at her brother, and found that Ron was finally looking right at her with a look of shock on his face. Ginny shifted her eyes to Harry's and saw the internal struggle raging behind his famous green eyes. She prayed as she made her decision as to how to proceed that since they were there it meant that they had accomplished their mission. She looked at her husband and smiled as he nodded back and then they made their move.

In a split second, Ginny and Draco had their wands point directly at Voldemort while Narcissa release Harry and grabbed her own sister. Goyle junior had released Hermione and had moved to assume a more protective pose over Ginny just as Draco had. There was no way that he wasn't going to do everything he could to protect the young mother and wife of his best friend.

Voldmort looked appalled at the turn of event but then his arrogant nature kicked in. "You foolish little girl…what do you think you are doing? You don't have a prayer of taking me down."

"No. I don't. But Harry does. Please, Harry, tell me you weren't foolish enough to come here without first finishing what we started?"

"We finished Ginny. We're ready." He assured her while he moved forward towards her.

"Wait! There are some people that want to be here for this." Draco interrupted and with Harry's wand now pointed at Voldemort he used a patronus charm to summon the refugees that had taken up residence at his home.

It only took a matter of seconds for them to arrive at the school. Remus and Minerva walked in at the head of the group and took their place right next to Ginny and Draco. Voldemort was now even more livid that he'd been played a fool by those that he considered so inferior to himself. He couldn't understand how they had got the better of him.

"Finish this Harry." Remus stated quietly and calmly. Then Hermione walked up to Harry and took his free hand and Harry closed his eyes and as tears flowed down his face he uttered that curse and he truly meant it thereby ending his reign of terror.

For the next hour bedlam ensued as the great battle raged. There was no way that either side could escape suffering casualties and losses. It Snape that saved a Harry from a cowardly shot taken by Bellatrix as she aimed her wand at Harry's back. However, it was Neville that walked right up to Bellatrix pointing his wand right at her and clearly and with the utmost confidence said, "This is for my mother, you bitch!" and then he ended her. By the end of the battle, they lost Snape and Goyle Sr.

Ron, however, as soon as the fighting ended ran for his baby sister and grabbed her into a crushing hug. "I knew it." He sobbed. "I knew you wouldn't turn on us! But why'd you have to marry the blonde git!" at that everyone laughed until Ginny looked over at her husband and said, "because he loves me and I love him."

"Well, I guess that alright then." Ron acquiesced.

"Love, we better get back to the kids, we did leave the muggle in charge. Who knows what Ayden's done to poor Dudley by now?"

"Dudley?" Harry's head shot up as he looked up at Draco.

"Yes. Your cousin is an interesting fellow. He's quite entertaining for a muggle. And he's had some interesting stories about you when you were growing up."

"Oh God!" Harry groaned.

"Wait a damn minute!" Ron interrupted. "What the hell do you mean kids?"

"OH! You're an uncle now Ron!" Draco announced and Ron eyes rolled back in his head as he passed out cold.

Luna was absolutely beside herself she was so upset. "Oh yeah, facing pure evil he's fine with…but his sister having a sex life he can't take! What a wimp!"

As Luna and Susan worked to bring Ron around Draco and Ginny made their leave to get back to the kids promising to meet them at The Burrow in a half hour where they would explain everything to the whole family at one time.

The auror's showed up moments after Ginny and Draco left and started attempting to make sense of what had transpired at the school. It only took moments after she arrived for Tonks to spot Remus standing among the crowd of survivors.

"Remus?" she yelled running for him.

"Dora" he whispered as she collided with him and he enveloped her in an embrace that put Ron's to shame.

"But you're dead. I saw her kill you?" she questioned. It was at that point that Kingsley looked around and noticed for the first time the faces of people that were in the room that he thought were dead.

"Can someone please explain to me why the _HELL _there are a bunch of dead people walking around my crime scene?"

"It's a really long story. But I will tell you everything; just trust me when I say that Narcissa Malfoy and Young Mr. Goyle there are innocent. Well this time. Please release them."

"They are known death eaters. Speaking of we need to get Draco and Ginevra Malfoy before they flee."

"Not everything is as black and white and you're making it out to be. They risked their lives to save me and many others and they continued to risk their lives by hiding us and keeping us alive. Please trust me Kingsley." Remus pleaded looking his friend.

A/N:

I finally got this done. The epi is done and will be posted tomorrow. Before I get yelled at for this I want to explain a couple things in here. The element of surprise is just that. It can catch even the best off their guard. And there is a reason that I made Voldemort and the ones were still following his drivel a "band of bumbling buffoons" It makes my life easier. And my favorite all time line in all the Potter books was uttered my Molly Weasley in DH. "Not my daughter you bitch!" But since I wasn't going to allow her to be at the battle I had to choose someone else to finish Bellatrix off. It was a given that the job had to go to Neville and I came up with a variation of Molly's line for him. I'm quite proud of that. Also, I know that this is short and the epi will be too.


	28. Chapter 28

Secret Heroes: The Epilogue

The End

Ginny knew better than to expect every member of her family to welcome her or her husband into her parents' home with open arms like Ron had. In fact, she was terrified that she and Draco were going to be arrested and thrown in jail. Death eaters were known for getting real trials, more like automatic convictions and a life sentence in Azkaban.

Draco, knowing that his wife was terrified, pulled her aside before they left for her parent's home and assured her that they would run if they had to. That neither of them would go to prison let alone be separated from their babies. He held her tight showing her the reassurance that she needed before they grabbed everything that they thought they'd need and ventured downstairs.

Their really was no easy ways to travel with babies using magic and this was the first time that they were taking the twins off the grounds at all. They decided that Floo powder would probably be best as long as the sufficiently covered their mouths. They didn't want them to inhale soot into their young lungs but both were terrified of apparating and accidently splinching one of their children.

Ginny wasn't the only one that was terrified to head to The Burrow. He and his father had both done their share to hurt her father and brothers. He knew his life was in jeopardy just for the fact that he married her without her father's permission and seeing as she gave birth to twins it was a given that he'd had sex with her. And she had six large brothers that were going to pound him into the ground.

"Ginny," he asked as they entered the sitting room. "you'll….uh….you'll protect me from your brothers right?"

"I won't let them do anything that would prevent us from having more children." She laughed at him. Just as they were preparing to cover the babies' faces Narcissa arrived back at the house and offered to accompany them to The Burrow to help with the children.

Of course just as Ginny and Draco has surmised their arrival at The Burrow wasn't exactly warmly accepted. However, Hermione, Harry, and even Ron had started to smooth things over at least enough for them to be welcomed into the house and allowed to tell their side of the story.

It was a tense silence as Ron let them into the house and led the way to the sitting room where everyone was gathered, celebrating Voldemort's demise. The room immediately silence as the Malfoys' entered.

While most of her brothers looked at her with disgust, Ron stayed right by her side. Her father was outright glaring at Draco while taking in the three children that the Malfoy's had with them. However, Molly was the one that made the first move. She walked up to her daughter. "I don't know what the truth is about what has happened since you left the school, but Ron told us that it's not what everyone thinks and that we should give you the benefit of the doubt and let you tell us your side. And that apparently I have grandchildren?"

"Yes. We are going to tell you everything, Mama. I promise. And yes, we have three children." Then Ginny went on to introduce her little family and Molly immediate grabbed for them. It startled Draco when Arthur walked up to him and asked if he could hold his granddaughter. They told them of how they had adopted their oldest after Bellatrix had killed his parents.

Then they started in on the big story. They told of everything they did to undermine Voldemort's orders, of finding a way to fake deaths, of the crowded manor that they resided in, of how Ginny grew to trust them, and how she fell in love with Draco. They told their family of their real wedding and how Remus was the one to give her away and how hard it was for Ginny not to have her family there.

Once they knew that The Weasley were accepting their story, they summoned an elf to bring Dudley over to The Burrow. They all watched in amusement as he took in the house. Then he turned to Harry, "Dude, no wonder you couldn't wait to get here every summer, this place is awesome!" At that, they all laughed at Dudley and the tension that had still been hanging over the room dissipated.

After a couple hours, Draco, noticing that the twins needed changing asked where he could go change them. Molly offered to help him and the two took off up the stairs together. Once they were alone in one of the spare rooms Draco told his mother in law of his wife's fears that her family would forever hate her and not believe that she hadn't done anything wrong. Molly assured him that both her and her husband could always tell when her daughter was lying to them and she knew that this wasn't one of those times. And that she was thrilled that her daughter had found such happiness in such less than perfect conditions.

As Draco and Molly was upstairs Arthur and Ginny were having their own talk.

"Draco Malfoy?"

"He's not his father, Dad. I assure you of that."

"I am just glad that Remus was the one that gave you away and not _him."_

_"That is why we did that ceremony first. The second was nothing but an acting job."_

_ "I can understand that."_

_ "He's good to me Daddy."_

_"He's a great father too." Her father observed._

_"Yes, he is."_

_It was a couple of hours later that Molly ventured into the kitchen to prepare something to eat when Ginny noticed that something was bothering Hermione. _

_"Are you alright, Hermione, you look a little green?"_

_"I haven't felt well for a week or so, some kind of bug I picked up while traveling. I just can't shake it."_

_"Yeah, she's been puking left and right. Not to mention she's tired, like all the time. Fell asleep during one of our hikes a week ago. She just collapsed while walking. Scared the hell out of us."_

_Draco gave his wife a knowing smile, whispered something into her ear, and went to join Molly in the kitchen. He returned a few minutes later with a cup of tea and Molly in tow and walked over to Hermione._

_"Here, drink this. It really helped Ginny when she was suffering morning sickness." Hermione hesitantly took the cup not really catching on to what Draco was saying but Harry did. His eyes went wide._

_ "What? You think?" and Harry started looking a little green himself. Especially after Hermione announced she did indeed feel better after only a few sips of the tea. After finally convincing Hermione that it was very likely that she was indeed pregnant she decided that she needed to lie down for a few a bit before dinner. _

_Harry glared at Draco when he heard him snickering at him and Hermione. _

_"Something funny Malfoy?"_

_"Yeah, who would have thought that Saint Potter would end up getting his girlfriend pregnant out of marriage? A real gentleman wouldn't behave that way."_

_"What would you know about being a gentleman Malfoy."_

_"Obviously more than you do."_

_"Oh yeah."  
_

_"Yeah, because I can guarantee you that I never did anything that would put My Ginny in a position that like."_

_"Wait. Are you saying that you never…until you were married?"_

_"Nope. Never."_

_"What about all the rumors at school?" George finally piped up suddenly interested. Draco looked up to see that he now had the attention of his wife's father and all of her brothers._

_"Rumors were all that they were."_

_"Really?"_

_"Yes, really."_

_"I'm going to ask this bluntly. Are you telling me that even though you were living together, that my daughter was a virgin on her wedding night?"_

_"Yes, sir. But I do need to tell you that I know that by tradition it should have been you that I asked for her hand in marriage but I did go to Remus by proxy. I know that he cares for her just as you do. Nevertheless, while I am so grateful that you have believed us and welcomed us in your home and I ask that you support our marriage, sir. I fear that not everyone will believe us so easy. We've had to some things that aren't exactly going to scream our innocence. I hate this, but we both had to take the mark to protect ourselves. We've both had to pretend to be deatheaters. I fear that the aurors will come after us."_

_"We'll do anything we can for you and Ginny, Draco. You are family now and you love my sister. Anyone can see that just by that way that you look at her." Charlie spoke up. In fact all of the men in the room looked less like they were about the castrate Draco after finding out that he did respect her like that and their attitudes towards him softened._

_"Thank you. I—"_

_"What are you boys talking about, love?" Ginny interrupted as she entered the room._

_"Not much. Mostly you."_

_ "Oh God. I don't think that I want to know."_

_ "Probably not."_

_ "Dinners done by the way."_

_ As soon as they all had made it to the table, were seated, and filled their plates. Draco finally asked the question that had been bugging him for so long, "So, do I finally get to know what was that you guys were doing to take down Voldemort?"_

_ "You never told him?" Harry asked in shock._

_ "No. I swore that I wouldn't tell a soul. And Draco and Narcissa respected that."_

_ Now it was Harry, Hermione, and Ron's turn to tell their tale. Dessert was served before they were done and after that, and soon after Ron ducked out to go to see Luna and her father before it got too late._

_ "So Harry and Draco," Arthur started, "what is it that you two are planning to do for a living now that you have families to support? Or do you both expect to live off your trust funds?"_

_ "I'm going to train to become an auror. It's been a dream of mine for a while." Harry answered._

_ "And you Draco?"_

_ "Well, Ginny and I have discussed this and we love have so many people living with us and having a full house. We are going to turn the manor into a halfway house/apartment complex and rent rooms out."_

_ "Are you planning to have more children?"_

_ "Possibly. Right now, we are busy with the three that we already have. There's no hurry to add more."_

_ That is exactly what Draco and Ginny did. Through their own statements and the statements of all the people that she, Draco, and the other secret heroes risked their own lives to save, they were cleared of all charges. Ten years later as they took Ayden to King's Cross they not only had their twins in tow, but the twins that they adopted after their parents died in a tragic automobile accident but the three other children that Ginny bore herself. The ministry asked them to take them, as they would one day receive their letters from Hogwarts._

_ Harry and Ginny had a beautiful little girl that they names Lily Anne. They were married when she was one and Hermione was once again pregnant. She was only three months pregnant and not showing a lot yet when they married in a small ceremony at The Burrow. It was just the family and a few friends from work. Their son, James Sirius, would be their last due to complication during delivery, Hermione would not be able to have more children. Harry did become an auror and Hermione a professor at Hogwarts teaching Potions beside Neville who taught Defense Against the Dark Arts. He was known as the professor that broke the curse._

_ Luna and Ron were married not more than a month after the end of the war not wanting to wait anymore. They never had children but enjoyed spoiling their nieces and nephews much like Charlie who never married. Ron worked as an auror and Luna eventually took over the Quibbler from her father._

_ Tragedy struck a few years after the end of the war when an experiment went bad and the family lost both Fred and George in a horrible explosion at their shop. It was a very hard time for Molly and Arthur. It was not only their children and grandchildren pulled them through losing two of their sons at once, but their friendship with Narcissa. _

_Bill and Fleur had a precious little girl nine months after the war ended named Victoire. She was their only child. Bill continued to work for Gringotts while Fleur stayed home with the kids and frequently helped Molly watch Harry and Hermione's kids while they worked every day._

_Arthur, Molly, and Narcissa all enjoyed their aging years being doting grandparents to all their grandkids and huge Sunday dinners that no one ever missed. They became so close friends and family that one would never have believed the animosity that once separated the The Malfoys and The Weasley. Whether the names were Weasley, Potter, Malfoy, or even Goyle; they really were one big happy family._

_A/N:_

_I cannot believe that I am about to mark this complete. I want to thank everyone that is still reading this. I know that the beginning is just horrid and then after I disappeared for so long. I want all my readers to know how grateful I am for everyone that reads this. For those that are twilight fans, I still have a WIP there and one that I am going to start in a few weeks. But I think that as for Harry Potter I am done for now. I may return one day when I have more time. I will be leaving this up and may fix the beginning and make it better someday. But for now, thank you, good bye, and good luck._


End file.
